Five Books, Three Generations and One Room
by Digi Yo
Summary: Three generations of the Harry Potter series are present in the room of requirement to read five books about the life of Harry starting from his third year. The third generation wants the first two generations to be able to change the future for a better and happy life since they agreed that the price paid for the victory was too high...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I am flattered that you care, but no I do not own Harry Potter and whatever text you recognize in this story belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

**So, this is another book reading fic. I love reading those and decided to do my own take on are all three generations so Harry's father and mother are referred by their names and his son and daughter are James II and Lily II.**

**The Marauders and Lily are in their sixth year. Harry and co. are about to go in their sixth year. They are pulled away at a time somewhere during the summer when Harry was at the Weasleys during HBP. Rose, Albus and Scorpius are in their sixth year, James II is in his seventh, Lily II is in her fourth while Victoire of course has graduated from Hogwarts.**

**So here we go….**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"No Potter! The day I go out with you would be the day Filch throws a party for all the students." Lily Evans said totally annoyed since James Potter would not stop asking her out. They were in their sixth year now and he had been trying since when…second year!

"Padfoot! Moony!" James said turning to his two friends. "We have to give Filch a love potion!"

"Er…and why is that Prongs?" Sirius asked.

"Well, I will make it for you and him ."

"JAMES!"

"And…." James went on ignoring Sirius. "Then when he is head over the heels for you, then you can ask him to throw a party and then Evans will go out with me!"

Remus and Sirius snickered.

"Ugh…..you lot are unbelievable." Lily said and turned to move towards the Great Hall when suddenly from somewhere they were engulfed in bright light and vanished.

"Ow get off me James."

"That is my foot Sirius."

"Oh. Yeah. Just a sec."

"I said _get off James."_

"Aw Remus you are no fun!"

"WILL YOU THREE SHUT UP FOR FIVE FREAKING MINUTES!"

That shut the Marauders up. Nobody wanted to face an angry Lily Evans. And finally they noticed that they had company in the room.

There were three girls and three boys. The first boy looked oddly like James. He had the same black messy hair but bright brown eyes instead of James' hazel and he too wore glasses. The other boy too looked a lot like him but to a lesser degree. He also had the same hair but this one had green eyes. The third boy was totally different. He had a pointed face and blonde hair.

The first girl had flaming red hair which reached up to her waist and were quite bushy but still she was very beautiful. The second girl also had red hair and the same green eyes as the boy. The third one again was blonde haired and blue eyed but she was beautiful beyond words.

"Er…..hello." James said uncertainly.

"Hello everyone." The first girl said. "I am sure you are pretty confused but don't worry we will explain everything. We are waiting for a few more guests and ah! Here they come!"

There was another flash of light and another group of five appeared.

"What the…."

"Alright Harry what did you do now?"

"I didn't do anything Hermione."

"Must be the nargles…."

"Yeah you never know the nargles."

"Ronald!"

"Wha…."

"OK cool off we have company."

They all looked around just as the previous guests had done.

The eyes of one of the boys who strangely again had the same black hair and green eyes rested on James, Sirius, Remus and Lily.

"You…" He said in an almost whisper.

"They are Harry." The spectacled boy said.

"Introductions!" The long haired girl said. "I can assure you we are no Death eaters and there is nothing to be afraid of. We are from the future."

"Um…..I am James Potter."

"Lily Evans."

"Sirius Black."

"Remus Lupin."

Hermione nudged Harry who was gazing fixedly at James and Lily.

"Er…Harry….Harry Potter."

James looked at him sharply. "You are…"

"Yes, I am your son from the future."

"And your mother…."

He looked at Lily.

"Oh Merlin! I marry Potter!" Lily said.

"YES! Here that Padfoot! She marries me."

Harry smiled at them.

Lily went over and hugged Harry. "Can't believe I marry him! But anyways you're my son!"

"Let's carry on then." The red head said.

"I am Ginny Weasly."

"Woah! They get a girl in the Weasly family!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Ron Weasly."

"Hermione Granger."

"I am Luna Lovegood. And oh you have a wrakspurt around your head." She said pointing at James.

"A _what?_" James said feeling around his head.

"Nothing!" Hermione said quickly before Luna began a detailed explanation about wrackspurts.

"OK our turn." She said.

"I am James Sirius Potter." Everyone looked at him.

Then it dawned on Harry. "You are _my_ son."

"Merlin! In one day I get to know that not only do I have a son but also a grandson!" James said.

"You named him after me too!" Sirius said happily.

Harry could guess why he had named him after Sirius. He missed Sirius a lot. It was almost painful to see this happy looking person right here before him knowing the doom which awaited him.

"I am Albus Potter. And it is best that you do not know my middle name or else it'll spoil the rea…..um what we are here for."

"I am Rose Jane Weasly."

Hermione gasped. Jane was the name of her mother! This meant….She looked at Ron who looked about ready to faint. Rose giggled at them. "Yes I am the daughter of you two."

"And you two." Harry said looking at James II and Albus. "Who is your mother?"

They both turned to look at Ginny with identical grins on their faces and said "Ginny!"

Ginny blushed furiously. She was married to Harry in the future! Harry didn't really know what to do.

"Way to go mate!" Ron said. "I knew you two would get together someday! And you have two sons too!"

"And a daughter….." The other redhead said.

"What…" Harry said slowly.

The girl giggled and said. "I am Lily Luna Potter!"

Luna seemed to come out of her permanent daze for a moment and looked at Ginny and Harry. "You named your daughter after me?"

"It seems so." Ginny said getting over her shock.

"Well. I am Victoire Weasly." The blonde girl said.

"And which of our brothers is your father?"

"My father is Bill Weasly."

"Oh!"

"And judging by the looks of her." Ginny said. "He went ahead to marry Phlegm!"

Victoire smiled. Ginny in the future had told her about the nickname she had had for her mother.

"And you?" Ron asked the last boy.

"Um…I…..I…."

Rose went over and grabbed his hand. "It is alright." She said and then she turned on the others. "He is a good friend. But his family were all Death Eaters and your enemies." She gestured to them. "But he is not like any of them."

"But….."

"I understand…." Sirius said slowly. James put his hand on his shoulder.

The boy took a deep breath and said. "I am Scorpius Malfoy."

There was a silence. Ron was about to say something but he caught Hermione's eye and shut up. Harry not wanting the situation to get awkward for Scorpius said. "So, I take Malfoy…um….Draco didn't marry Pansy Parkinson?"

"No. He married Astoria Greengrass."

"Oh."

"So. Why exactly are we here." Lily asked Rose since she happened to be the one to do most of the talking.

"Sit down." Rose said.

"Sit. But where?" Sirius said.

Just as he said this a number of bean bags and sofas appeared in the room.

"Nice." James said as they all sat down.

"OK. You are at the moment in the future." James II said. "This as most of you know is the room of requirement. You are in the year 2022. Now, James and Lily, no the other Lily. You die on Halloween 1981-you were murdered by Voldemort- but your son Harry." He gestured to Harry. "was saved."

"WHAT!" Sirius and Remus jumped at the mention of the death of James and Lily.

"Sirius, Remus. It is alright." James said quietly.

" Harry was the chief target of Voldemort. Please don't interrupt. Everything will soon be clear. After years of struggle you Harry win the war." The second generation all gasped and sighed collectively. "But we all agreed including your own future selves that the price paid for the victory was too high, so we are here to change the past."

Harry looked at his future son. _Price paid for the victory was too high. _He had already lost Sirius. Who else…

"But that is too dangerous." Hermione said at once.

"No. In the future new techniques have been discovered and the changes which you all will make in your respective times will not affect any of us." Victoire said.

"So, how exactly do we change the future?" Lily said. Both she and James had gone pale at the mention of their deaths.

"Rose." James II turned to her.

Rose brought out her wand and conjured a set of five books.

"These books are about you Harry and your adventures starting from your third year. Reading them will give all of you clues on changing the future. We will fill James, Lily, Remus and Sirius about your first and second years when the time comes. If you decide to read then all time will stop except in the room because we have with much difficulty performed a charm on this room."

"So, do you want to change the future?" Albus asked.

"Like heck we do. If James gets killed in the future then I sure as hell want to stop it from happening." Sirius said at once.

Remus nodded his agreement. James and Lily nodded too.

They turned to the second generation.

"I am staying." Harry said at once.

"If Harry does, we do too." Hermione and Ron said.

Ginny nodded too. Luna was gazing off into space again so Ginny said. "Yeah Luna will stay too."

They nodded. "OK so let us begin." Rose said. "Who wants to read first?"

"I will." Hermione said immediately. Ron laughed beside her and his laugh was at once turned into a cough as Hermione turned to glare at him.

**Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban**

"What a pleasant title." Sirius said.

Harry looked at him sadly. If only he knew what the title really meant.

**Chapter 1: Owl Post**

Owl Post

**Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways.**

"Why what is wrong with you?" Lily asked.

"We will find out only if we read you know." Albus said.

"Yeah, right."

**For one thing, he hated the summer holidays more than any other time of year.**

"WHAT! YOU HATE THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS." James yelled.

"Er….James not too loud if you please." Victoire said wincing. The others were rubbing their ears as well.

"Oh sorry. But really, Harry, why?"

"You know sometimes there are people who don't like them." Sirius said softly.

"Can we read more than one line without me getting interrupted." Hermione said seeing where this conversation was heading.

**For another, he really wanted to do his homework,**

Sirius pretended to faint. Even James II, Albus and Scorpius turned to look at Harry as if he had grown an extra head or something. Rose and Hermione gave him an approving look while Ron simply gave him a betrayed look.

"Look!" James said to Lily. "You have corrupted my son!"

**but was forced to do it in secret, in the dead of night.**

"What!" Lily said shocked.

Rose looked horrified. "At night! But when do you sleep then!"

"I didn't." Harry said shortly gesturing for Hermione to continue not wanting awkward questions.

**And he also happened to be a wizard. It was nearly midnight, and he was lying on his stomach in bed, the blankets drawn right over his head like a tent, a flashlight in one hand and a large leather-bound book (A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot)**

"One stupid book if ever there was one." Lily II muttered.

**propped open against the pillow.**

**Harry moved the tip of his eagle-feather quill down the page, frowning as he looked for something that would help him write his essay, "Witch Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless — discuss."**

Hermione, Rose and Lily all opened their mouths about to say something.

"No we all have already written a foot long essay on that crap. We do not want a review and oh yes we know very well that you would have written perfect O level essays but frankly this is not the time." Lily II immediately said.

That shut them up.

**The quill paused at the top of a likely looking paragraph. Harry pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his nose, moved his flashlight closer to the book, and read:**

**Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognizing it. On the rare occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, burning had no effect whatsoever. The witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame-Freezing Charm and then pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation. Indeed, Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burned so much that she allowed herself to be caught no less than forty-seven times in various disguises.**

"A weird one she definitely was." Scorpius said.

Everyone jumped at the sound of his voice. They had almost forgotten that he was there.

**Harry put his quill between his teeth and reached underneath his pillow for his ink bottle and a roll of parchment. Slowly and very carefully he unscrewed the ink bottle, dipped his quill into it, and began to write, pausing every now and then to listen, because if any of the Dursleys**

"DURSLEYS!" This time it was Lily's voice who gave them the jitters. "Not as in my sister and her fiancée."

"It is them." Harry said not looking into Lily's eyes.

"But….. why are you living them."

"Yeah." Sirius said. "Why not me?"

"And I guess judging by Lily's reaction she wouldn't have wanted you to go there and naturally James would have left you with Sirius." Remus said.

"Unless I am….." Sirius said.

"No, you are not." Ginny said immediately.

"Then why those horrible people." Lily said tears in her eyes. She could imagine how her sister and her husband would treat Harry. The night time homework was only a mild example.

"This book will answer all your questions. Just be patient." Albus said.

**heard the scratching of his quill on their way to the bathroom, he'd probably find himself locked in the cupboard under the stairs for the rest of the summer.**

"Th..the cupboard under the stairs…." Lily said softly. But there was something menacing in her tone.

"They better not….." James said in the same tone.

Harry shook his head. He thought it best not to tell the occupants of the room that he had lived in that cupboard for eleven years. It would not go well with the Ministry if fourteen witches and wizards suddenly attacked a muggle house.

**The Dursley family of Number Four, Privet Drive, was the reason that Harry never enjoyed his summer holidays.**

Everyone made such threatening sounds that Harry really felt for the Dursleys if they ever came face to face with these people.

**Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and their son, Dudley, were Harry's only living relatives.**

Sirius frowned at that.

**They were Muggles, and they had a very medieval attitude toward magic. Harry's dead parents, who had been a witch and wizard themselves, were never mentioned under the Dursleys' roof.**

Lily again felt hot tears spring into her eyes. James put an arm around her which she immediately pushed away.

**For years, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had hoped that if they kept Harry as downtrodden as possible, they would be able to squash the magic out of him.**

Again angry threats broke out at this. Apparently future Harry had not told his kids about his treatment at the Dursleys just like he had not told his friends.

"Squash out!" Victoire cried.

"I will squash you, you fat walrus!" Lily said.

"Why that moron!" Ron said.

"You lay a hand on my son and I will come from my grave to get you…" James said.

**To their fury, they had not been unsuccessful.**

They all cheered and James and Sirius did a sort of a victory dance.

**These days they lived in terror of anyone finding out that Harry had spent most of the last two years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.**

"Maybe we should arrive at your doorstep next time, Harry!" Ron said.

"Or simply get Luna…." Harry whispered.

**The most they could do, however, was to lock away Harry's spell books, wand, cauldron, and broomstick at the start of the summer break, and forbid him to talk to the neighbors.**

Lily growled at this.

**This separation from his spell books had been a real problem for Harry, because his teachers at Hogwarts had given him a lot of holiday work. One of the essays, a particularly nasty one about shrinking potions, was for Harry's least favorite teacher, Professor Snape, who would be delighted to have an excuse to give Harry detention for a month.**

"Snape?" Remus said.

"Not Snivellus!" Sirius said.

"It is him." Harry said.

"Oh Merlin! He'd definitely hate you only because you are my son!" James said.

"And whose fault is that?" Lily said.

James and Sirius looked at her innoncently.

**Harry had therefore seized his chance in the first week of the holidays. While Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley had gone out into the front garden to admire Uncle Vernon's new company car (in very loud voices, so that the rest of the street would notice it too),**

"Gits." Ginny muttered.

**Harry had crept downstairs, picked the lock on the cupboard under the stairs,**

"Woohoo!" Sirius said.

"Yay! My son can pick locks! He did inherit some things from me!"

**grabbed some of his books, and hidden them in his bedroom. As long as he didn't leave spots of ink on the sheets, the Dursleys need never know that he was studying magic by night.**

Hermione hastily continued reading before any more threats to the Dursley family could be made.

**Harry was particularly keen to avoid trouble with his aunt and uncle at the moment, as they were already in an especially bad mood with him, all because he'd received a telephone call from a fellow wizard one week into the school vacation.**

Ron's ears turned pink at that.

**Ron Weasley, who was one of Harry's best friends at Hogwarts, came from a whole family of wizards. This meant that he knew a lot of things Harry didn't, but had never used a telephone beforeMost unluckily, it had been Uncle Vernon who had answered the call.**

Everyone who knew Vernon groaned.

.** "Vernon Dursley speaking."**

**Harry, who happened to be in the room at the time, froze as he heard Ron's voice answer.**

**"HELLO? HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? I — WANT — TO — TALK — TO — HARRY — POTTER!"**

The Marauders, James II, Albus, Scorpius, Lily II and Ginny looked as if it was taking all the energy they had to not to burst out laughing.

"**WHO IS THIS?" he roared in the direction of the mouthpiece. "WHO ARE YOU?"**

"You don't have to shout!" James said already hating his future brother-in-law.

**"RON — WEASLEY!" Ron bellowed back, as though he and Uncle Vernon were speaking from opposite ends of a football field. "I'M — A — FRIEND — OF — HARRY'S — FROM — SCHOOL —"**

"I am guessing you shouldn't have said that. I mean if they have such a reaction to Harry's schoolwork. I don't thin you telling them that you are from Hogwarts would have helped." Rose said.

"I know that now." Ron said turning as red as his hair.

**Uncle Vernon's small eyes swiveled around to Harry, who was rooted to the spot.**

**"THERE IS NO HARRY POTTER HERE!" he roared, now holding the receiver at arm's length, as though frightened it might explode. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT SCHOOL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! NEVER CONTACT ME AGAIN! DON'T YOU COME NEAR MY FAMILY!"**

"Over reaction, much?" James II said while James and Lily looked ready for murder.

**And he threw the receiver back onto the telephone as if dropping a poisonous spider.**

**The fight that had followed had been one of the worst ever.**

**"HOW DARE YOU GIVE THIS NUMBER TO PEOPLE LIKE — PEOPLE LIKE YOU!" Uncle Vernon had roared, spraying Harry with spit.**

"Stay away from him you fatso!" Lily said.

Harry smiled, glad to see the parental concern which he had never ever seen in real life.

**Ron obviously realized that he'd gotten Harry into trouble, because he hadn't called again. Harry's other best friend from Hogwarts, Hermione Granger, hadn't been in touch either. Harry suspected that Ron had warned Hermione not to call, which was a pity, because Hermione, the cleverest witch in Harry's year,**

Hermione beamed at Harry.

**had Muggle parents, knew perfectly well how to use a telephone, and would probably have had enough sense not to say that she went to Hogwarts.**

"Of course I would!"

**So Harry had had no word from any of his wizarding friends for five long weeks, and this summer was turning out to be almost as bad as the last one.**

"Oh Merlin! What happened last summer?" Remus said.

"You really don't want to know." Ron said.

**There was just one very small improvement — after swearing that he wouldn't use her to send letters to any of his friends, Harry had been allowed to let his owl, Hedwig, out at night.**

"Does that mean, they made you keep her locked up the previous summer!"Lily said clearly annoyed at their paranoia.

"That is animal abuse!" Victoire said.

"Ever the animal lover Vikki!" James II said grinning.

"Don't call me that." Victoire said.

James II simply stuck his tongue out at her.

**Uncle Vernon had given in because of the racket Hedwig made if she was locked in her cage all the time.**

"Go Hedwig!" They shouted.

**Harry finished writing about Wendelin the Weird and paused to listen again. The silence in the dark house was broken only by the distant, grunting snores of his enormous cousin, Dudley. It must be very late, Harry thought. His eyes were itching with tiredness. Perhaps he'd finish this essay tomorrow night…**

**He replaced the top of the ink bottle; pulled an old pillowcase from under his bed; put the flashlight, A History of Magic, his essay, quill, and ink inside it; got out of bed; and hid the lot under a loose floorboard under his bed.**

"He shouldn't be going through this." Lily said ignoring the fact that Harry was in the room. "No kid should go through this."

"We are going to change this Lily. He won't have to live through this." James said.

Lily nodded and gave him a smile.

**Then he stood up, stretched, and checked the time on the luminous alarm clock on his bedside table.**

**It was one o'clock in the morning. Harry's stomach gave a funny jolt. He had been thirteen years old, without realizing it, for a whole hour.**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The Marauders, James II, Albus, Lily II and Ron yelled.

"It isn't my birthday today!" Harry said bemused.

"Oh Harry. You always ruin the effect." Ron said.

**Yet another unusual thing about Harry was how little he looked forward to his birthdays.**

Lily and James looked sad again.

**He had never received a birthday card in his life.**

"They couldn't even get you a decent birthday card!" James said angrily.

**The Dursleys had completely ignored his last two birthdays, and he had no reason to suppose they would remember this one.**

Angry murmurs broke out once more.

"It is a pity your birthday is during the vacations Harry or else we'd make quite a big deal of it." Hermione said annoyed.

_Where am I? _Sirius thought.

**Harry walked across the dark room, past Hedwig's large, empty cage, to the open window. He leaned on the sill, the cool night air pleasant on his face after a long time under the blankets. Hedwig had been absent for two nights now. Harry wasn't worried about her: she'd been gone this long before.**

**But he hoped she'd be back soon — she was the only living creature in this house who didn't flinch at the sight of him. Harry, though still rather small and skinny for his age, had grown a few inches over the last year. His jet-black hair, however, was just as it always had been — stubbornly untidy, whatever he did to it.**

"That is the Potter hair, my son!" James said.

**The eyes behind his glasses were bright green, and on his forehead, clearly visible through his hair, was a thin scar, shaped like a bolt of lightning. Of all the unusual things about Harry, this scar was the most extraordinary of all. It was not, as the Dursleys had pretended for ten years, a souvenir of the car crash that had killed Harry's parents,**

Shocked gasps were let out.

"CAR CRASH!" Sirius jumped up. "Why those bastards! Those moronic, idiotic…."

"How can a car crash kill a witch and wizard!" Scorpius said.

"They….They told you we died in a car crash." Lily slowly said.

Suddenly, the glass table on which the other books were kept blasted up.

They all gasped and looked at James who was trembling with fury.

"James….Prongs. Get a grip." Remus said shaking him gently.

Ron and Hermione glared at Harry. "How could you never tell us, Harry? I know you said that you never knew how your parents died but they actually told you that they died in a car crash!" Hermione said.

"It is an insult to their memory." Lily II said.

"You mean you never knew either." Ginny said.

"No. Dad pretty much left out the parts about his home life when he told us about his adventures." She said.

"He did tell us that his home life was unpleasant but…..I did not imagine this." Albus said.

Meanwhile Remus had managed to cool off both James and Sirius while Lily still looked a bit in shock about her sister's actions. Did she hate her that much?

Harry really feared what would happen when they heard about Marge. He mentally shuddered at the thought, partially because he was worried about the reactions of the occupants of the room and partially because that he would have to live through that again.

James pulled out his wand and pointed it at the table. "Reparo." And the tabled was restored back to its' original form. Rose picked up the books and placed them back on the table.

After a few minutes silence, Hermione began to read again.

**because Lily and James Potter had not died in a car crash.**

"Hear, Hear." Sirius said.

.They had been murdered, murdered by the most feared Dark wizard for a hundred years, Lord Voldemort. Harry had escaped from the same attack with nothing more than a scar on his forehead, when Voldemort's curse, instead of killing him, had rebounded upon its originator. Barely alive, Voldemort had fled..

The Marauders and Lily looked at Harry in awe. "You survived the killing curse?" Lily said.

Harry nodded.

"But….how? Nobody has ever survived it." Sirius said.

"You'll see." Harry said.

"I am getting tired of that answer." James said.

**But Harry had come face-to-face with him at Hogwarts.**

James and Lily gasped.

**Remembering their last meeting as he stood at the dark window, Harry had to admit he was lucky even to have reached his thirteenth birthday.**

"My baby!" Lily said. Harry blushed.

"You know at the end of this chapter, you had better tell us about the first and second years." Sirius said.

Rose nodded.

**He scanned the starry sky for a sign of Hedwig, perhaps soaring back to him with a dead mouse dangling from her beak, expecting praise.**

"You know it is weird how owls expect you to praise them for bringing dead rats." James II said.

"Just like you do every time you get the quaffle." Victoire said.

"You're a chaser." James asked excitedly."Like me!"

"Yup!" James II said.

"What about everybody else?" Sirius said.

"Let's discuss our houses and quidditch positions after this chapter." James II said.

**Gazing absently over the rooftops, it was a few seconds before Harry realized what he was seeing.**

**Silhouetted against the golden moon, and growing larger every moment, was a large, strangely lopsided creature, and it was flapping in Harry's direction. He stood quite still, watching it sink lower and lower. For a split second he hesitated, his hand on the window latch, wondering whether to slam it shut. But then the bizarre creature soared over one of the street lamps of Privet Drive, and Harry, realizing what it was, leapt aside.**

**Through the window soared three owls, two of them holding up the third, which appeared to be unconscious.**

"Oh poor owl." Victoire said.

"You know, sometimes I feel she cares more about those animals than Teddy." Rose whispered to Albus.

Albus smirked. "Bet Teddy will love to hear that."

**They landed with a soft flump on Harry's bed, and the middle owl, which was large and gray, keeled right over and lay motionless.**

"Errol," Ron said.

**There was a large package tied to its legs.**

**Harry recognized the unconscious owl at once — his name was Errol, and he belonged to the Weasley family. Harry dashed to the bed, untied the cords around Errol's legs, took off the parcel, and then carried Errol to Hedwig's cage. Errol opened one bleary eye, gave a feeble hoot of thanks, and began to gulp some water.**

"Aw…." Victoire cooed.

"Maybe he found the nargles!" Luna said suddenly looking excited.

Hermione pointedly continued reading.

**Harry turned back to the remaining owls. One of them, the large snowy female, was his own Hedwig.**

**She, too, was carrying a parcel and looked extremely pleased with herself. She gave Harry an affectionate nip with her beak as he removed her burden, then flew across the room to join Errol.**

**Harry didn't recognize the third owl, a handsome tawny one, but he knew at once where it had come from, because in addition to a third package, it was carrying a letter bearing the Hogwarts crest. When Harry relieved this owl of its burden, it ruffled its feathers importantly, stretched its wings, and took off through the window into the night.**

**Harry sat down on his bed and grabbed Errol's package,ripped off the brown paper, and discovered a present wrapped in gold and his first ever birthday card.**

Everyone growled at the reminder and there were a lot of muttered gits.

**Fingers trembling slightly, he opened the envelope.**

**Two pieces of paper fell out — a letter and a newspaper clipping.**

**The clipping had clearly come out of the wizarding newspaper, the Daily Prophet, because the people in the black-and-white picture were moving. Harry picked up the clipping, smoothed it out, and read:**

**MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE**

**Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw.**

They all cheered.

**A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, "We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank.**"

"Woah! If I do not become an auror, I want to do that." Sirius said.

"Knew you'd say that." James said rolling his eyes.

**The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children currently attend.**

"Five? One minute how many of you are there?" Remus said.

"Seven!" Ginny grinned.

"Hey Padfoot! Imagine if those seven kids were like us." James said.

"Yeah!" Sirius said grinning. "I am."

"No. Fred and George are more than enough. I don't know what Mum would have done if all of us turned out like them." Ron said.

"Just understand that Fred and George are your successors." Hermione explained.

"Woo!" James and Sirius hi5ed.

**Harry scanned the moving photograph, and a grin spread across his face as he saw all nine of the Weasleys waving furiously at him, standing in front of a large pyramid. Plump little Mrs. Weasley; tall, balding Mr. Weasley; six sons; and one daughter, all (though the black-and-white picture didn't show it) with flaming-red hair. Right in the middle of the picture was Ron, tall and gangling, with his pet rat, Scabbers, on his shoulder and his arm around his little sister, Ginny.**

**Harry couldn't think of anyone who deserved to win a large pile of gold more than the Weasleys, who were very nice and extremely poor.**

**He picked up Ron's letter and unfolded it.**

**Dear Harry,**

**Happy birthday!**

**Look, I'm really sorry about that telephone call.**

"You know if I think about it now, that phone call was a bit amusing. Nearly gave Uncle Vernon a heart attack." Harry said.

**I hope the Muggles didn't give you a hard time. I asked Dad, and he reckons I shouldn't have shouted.**

"You bet." Albus said.

**It's amazing here in Egypt. Bill's taken us around all the tombs and you wouldn't believe the curses those old Egyptian wizards put on them. Mum wouldn't let Ginny come in the last one.**

**There were all these mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles who'd broken in and grown extra heads and stuff.**

**I couldn't believe it when Dad won the Daily Prophet Draw. Seven hundred galleons! Most of it's gone on this trip, but they're going to buy me a new wand for next year.**

**Harry remembered only too well the occasion when Ron's old wand had snapped. It had happened when the car the two of them had been flying to Hogwarts had crashed into a tree on the school grounds.**

"Flying car!" Lily said looking all ready to spring into a lecture but Harry quickly nudged Hermione who continued reading hastily.

**We'll be back about a week before term starts and we'll be going up to London to get my wand and our new books. Any chance of meeting you there?**

**Don't let the Muggles get you down!**

**Try and come to London,**

**Ron**

**P.S. Percy's Head Boy. He got the letter last week.**

**Harry glanced back at the photograph. Percy, who was in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, was looking particularly smug.**

**He had pinned his Head Boy badge to the fez perched jauntily on top of his neat hair, his horn-rimmed glasses flashing in the Egyptian sun.**

"Um….Alright, now isn't he a bit obsessed?" James asked.

"He was." Ron muttered darkly thinking of Percy.

**Harry now turned to his present and unwrapped it. Inside was what looked like a miniature glass spinning top. There was another note from Ron beneath it.**

**Harry — this is a Pocket Sneakoscope. If there's someone untrustworthy around, it's supposed to light up and spin. Bill says it's rubbish sold for wizard tourists and isn't reliable, because it kept lighting up at dinner last night. But he didn't realize Fred and George had put beetles in his soup.**

They all laughed.

"I see what you meant!" Sirius said to Hermione.

**Bye — Ron**

**Harry put the Pocket Sneakoscope on his bedside table, where it stood quite still, balanced on its point, reflecting the luminous hands of his clock. He looked at it happily for a few seconds, then picked up the parcel Hedwig had brought.**

**Inside this, too, there was a wrapped present, a card, and a letter, this time from Hermione.**

**Dear Harry,**

**Ron wrote to me and told me about his phone call to your Uncle Vernon. I do hope you're all right.**

"Bet you were angry, Hermione." Ginny said.

"I was fuming! He should have asked somebody before attempting it." She said mock glaring at Ron.

**I'm on holiday in France at the moment and I didn't know how I was going to send this to you — what if they'd opened it at customs?**

"I would have loved seeing their faces if they did." Harry said grinning.

**— but then Hedwig turned up! I think she wanted to make sure you got something for your birthday for a change.**

"See!" Victoire said particularly looking at James II. "Owls care so much about you."

**I bought your present by owl-order; there was an advertisement in the Daily Prophet (I've been getting it delivered; it's so good to keep up with what's going on in the wizarding world). Did you see that picture of Ron and his family a week ago? I bet he's learning loads. I'm really jealous — the ancient Egyptian wizards were fascinating.**

"I doubt Ron was thinking about learning the stuff." James said amused.

"You got that right." Ron said.

**There's some interesting local history of witchcraft here, too. I've rewritten my whole History of Magic essay to include some of the things I've found out, I hope it's not too long — it's two rolls of parchment more than Professor Binns asked for.**

"The guy'll probably not even notice." James snorted.

"He is not that bad." Rose said.

Every eye in the room including Hermione turned to look oddly at Rose.

"What? I like History." Rose said shrugging.

"You two have one weird daughter." Ginny said to Ron and Hermione.

**Ron says he's going to be in London in the last week of the holidays. Can you make it? Will your aunt and uncle let you come?**

"They better!" James and Sirius shouted.

**I really hope you can. If not, I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express on September first!**

**Love from Hermione**

**P.S. Ron says Percy's Head Boy. I'll bet Percy's really pleased. Ron doesn't seem too happy about it.**

"Nah! I was. I was just annoyed because he kept gloating about it." Ron said.

**Harry laughed as he put Hermione's letter aside and picked up her present. It was very heavy. Knowing Hermione, he was sure it would be a large book full of very difficult spells**

"Hey!" Hermione said.

"Sorry!" Harry said.

**— but it wasn't. His heart gave a huge bound as he ripped back the paper and saw a sleek black leather case, with silver words stamped across it, reading Broomstick Servicing Kit.**

Hermione looked up when she felt a large number of gazes at her and saw that the eyes of every single quiddditch fanatic were looking at her with twinkles which could give Dumbledore a run for his money.

**There was a large jar of Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish, a pair of gleaming silver Tail-Twig Clippers, a tiny brass compass to clip on your broom for long journeys, and a Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare.**

Now most of the quidditch fans were practically drooling.

**Apart from his friends, the thing that Harry missed most about Hogwarts was Quidditch, the most popular sport in the magical world — highly dangerousvery exciting, and played on broomsticks. Harry happened to be a very good Quidditch player; he had been the youngest person in a century to be picked for one of the Hogwarts House teams.**

James looked at him for a moment and then jumped up and hugged him. "I can't believe it! He is the youngest player in the century!" He said jumping about joined by Sirius.

**One of Harry's most prized possessions was his Nimbus Two Thousand racing broom. Harry put the leather case aside and picked up his last parcel. He recognized the untidy scrawl on the brown paper at once: this was from Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper. He tore off the top layer of paper and glimpsed something green and leathery, but before he could unwrap it properly, the parcel gave a strange quiver, and whatever was inside it snapped loudly — as though it had jaws.**

"Uh….oh…." Sirius said.

"Knowing Hagrid, you can hardly expect something…well…normal from him." Rose said.

Everybody nodded in agreement.

**Harry froze. He knew that Hagrid would never send him anything dangerous on purpose, but then, Hagrid didn't have a normal person's view of what was dangerous.**

"Exactly." Sirius said.

"Yeah. I mean his dream is to get a pet dragon!" Remus said.

**Hagrid had been known to befriend giant spiders, buy vicious, three-headed dogs from men in pubs, and sneak illegal dragon eggs**

"Meaning he got one!" Remus said.

"We sent it away to Ron's brother Charlie. He works with dragons." Hermione said. "And really don't ask how. Lily already looks ready for murder!"

i**nto his cabin. Harry poked the parcel nervously. It snapped loudly again. Harry reached for the lamp on his bedside table, gripped it firmly in one hand, and raised it over his head, ready to strike. Then he seized the rest of the wrapping paper in his other hand and pulled.**

**And out fell — a book.**

"Phew! " Lily said.

"I don't know. It sounds too normal for Hagrid." Albus said.

"I bet there is a catch somewhere." Sirius said.

**Harry just had time to register its handsome green cover, emblazoned with the golden title The Monster Book of Monsters, before it flipped onto its edge and scuttled sideways along the bed like some weird crab.**

"That is what I meant." Sirius moaned.

"Trust Hagrid to send you a monster book!" James II said.

**"Uh-oh," Harry muttered.**

**The book toppled off the bed with a loud clunk and shuffled rapidly across the room. Harry followed it stealthily. The book was hiding in the dark space under his desk. Praying that the Dursleys were still fast asleep, Harry got down on his hands and knees and reached toward it.**

**"Ouch!"**

**The book snapped shut on his hand and then flapped past him, still scuttling on its covers. Harry scrambled around, threw himself forward, and managed to flatten it. Uncle Vernon gave a loud, sleepy grunt in the room next door.**

**Hedwig and Errol watched interestedly as Harry clamped the struggling book tightly in his arms, hurried to his chest of drawers, and pulled out a belt, which he buckled tightly around it. The Monster Book shuddered angrily, but could no longer flap and snap, so Harry threw it down on the bed and reached for Hagrid's card.**

**Dear Harry,**

**Happy Birthday!**

**Think you might find this useful for next year.**

"How is a biting book going to be useful!" Lily said.

But comprehension dawned on the faces of the third generation.

**Won't say no more here. Tell you when I see you.**

**Hope the Muggles are treating you right.**

"No they are not." James said.

**All the best,**

"He needs it." Ginny said.

**Hagrid**

**It struck Harry as ominous that Hagrid thought a biting book would come in useful, but he put Hagrid's card up next to Ron's and Hermione's, grinning more broadly than ever. Now there was only the letter from Hogwarts left.**

**Noticing that it was rather thicker than usual, Harry slit open the envelope, pulled out the first page of parchment within, and read:**

**Dear Mr. Potter,**

**Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock.**

"That never changes, does it?" James said.

"Nah!" Lily II said.

**Third years are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade on certain weekends. Please give the enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to sign.**

"I am sure Petunia and Vernon will not." Lily said sadly.

"Those gits. Everyone should have the opportunity of visiting Hogsmeade. It is wonderful!"James said.

"Where am I?" Sirius said aloud this time.

**A list of books for next year is enclosed.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Professor M. McGonagall**

**Harry pulled out the Hogsmeade permission form and looked at it, no longer grinning. It would be wonderful to visit Hogsmeade on weekends; he knew it was an entirely wizarding village, and he had never set foot there. But how on earth was he going to persuade Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia to sign the form?**

"That is it!" James said banging his fist on the sofa alarming everyone. "Lily, if we are unable to change the future, we are writing it and leaving that under no circumstances what so ever is Harry going to those Muggles. He goes to Sirius otherwise to Remus or to some other wizarding family and I am already leaving a signed permission form for him to attend Hogsmeade!" He finished in one breathe.

Lily nodded slowly.

**He looked over at the alarm clock. It was now two o'clock in the morning.**

**Deciding that he'd worry about the Hogsmeade form when he woke up, Harry got back into bed and reached up to cross off another day on the chart he'd made for himself, counting down the days left until his return to Hogwarts.**

"I used to do that too." Sirius said.

**Then he took off his glasses and lay down; eyes open, facing his three birthday cards.**

**Extremely unusual though he was, at that moment Harry Potter felt just like everyone else — glad, for the first time in his life, that it was his birthday.**

They all smiled sadly.

"Well this is it." Hermione said.

"OK so before we begin the next chapter, I believe there are a lot of things to be talked about." Rose said.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

* * *

**Please review! It makes my day.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: No, I honestly don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO**

**AUNT MARGE'S BIG MISTAKE**

"Three headed dog called Fluffy." Lily was still murmuring half an hour later.

"Three headed dog? To hell with it! I would have liked to see Lucius' face when his whole plan backfired." Sirius said.

"It wasn't funny." Ginny said and she unconsciously moved closer to Harry.

"Yeah…I…I…know it wasn't. Really sorry." Sirius said.

"He often speaks without thinking Ginny." Remus said.

"Yeah….." Ginny said slowly.

"So…" Rose said immediately changing the topic. "You wanted to know our houses!"

"Yup!" James said. "I guess you all know that we're all Gryffindors."

"Yeah. All of us are too except Luna here. She is in Ravenclaw." Hermione said.

Sirius looked at Luna doubtfully.

"You guys?" Harry asked.

"Well me and Al are Gryffindors." James II said.

"I am Ravenclaw." Rose said.

"Hufflepuff." Victoire said.

"Hufflepuff too." Lily II said.

"I am Slytherin." Scorpius said.

"And before any of you comment." Rose said fiercely. "Slytherin of our time is much different than of yours and Scor is nothing like Lucius or Draco0in fact Mr. Malfoy-Draco to you- actually is friendly with you all-not that you are the best of friends-but yeah you have polite relations."

"Hmm" Remus said absent mindedly.

"I guess we'd better start reading if we want to finish this book." Victoire said/

"Yeah we have already spent an hour discussing our first and second years." Hermione said. "Who wants to read next?"

"Let's go in a circle." Lily said.

"Alright." Hermione said passing the book to Ron.

**Chapter two. Aunt Marge's Big Mistake**

Harry sharply took in a breath.

"Harry?" Hermione asked. She knew that he had blown up his aunt but why this reaction.

Harry silently took out his wand and conjured a large number of dummies.

"Why these?" Albus asked.

"Believe me you will need them." Harry said quietly. This was going to be a long chapter.

**Harry went down to breakfast the next morning to find the three Dursleys already sitting around the kitchen table. They were watching a brand-new television, a welcome-home-for-the-summer present for Dudley,**

"Really now isn't it a bit too much?" Rose said.

"With the Dursleys anything is possible." Harry said.

**who had been complaining loudly about the long walk between the fridge and the television in the living room.**

"Alright. Two lines about him and I am already disgusted with him." Sirius said.

**Dudley had spent most of the summer in the kitchen, his piggy little eyes fixed on the screen and his five chins wobbling as he ate continually.**

"Five chins!" Victoire said eyes wide.

**Harry sat down between Dudley and Uncle Vernon, a large, beefy man with very little neck and a lot of mustache.**

"Beautiful!" James said

"He looks like a crumpled horn snorckback." Luna said.

"Er…"

"Just leave it James." Hermione said shooting Luna an annoyed look.

**Far from wishing Harry a happy birthday, none of the Dursleys made any sign that they had noticed Harry enter the room, but Harry was far too used to this to care.**

"You shouldn't be. You do not deserve to go through this." Lily said. "Nobody deserves it."

"I'd say that the Dursleys do." Scorpius said.

"I agree." James added.

**He helped himself to a piece of toast and then looked up at the reporter on the television, who was halfway through a report on an escaped convict.**

**"…the public is warned that Black is armed and extremely dangerous. A special hot line has been set up, and any sighting of Black should be reported immediately."**

"Black….." Sirius said wide eyed.

"There are many Blacks in the Muggle world Padfoot." Remus said though he looked thoughtful as did Lily.

"**No need to tell us _he's _no good," snorted Uncle Vernon,**

"Yeah like you are the best person in the world." James II said knowing perfectly well who this Black was.

**staring over the top of his newspaper at the prisoner. "Look at the state of him, the filthy layabout! Look at his hair!"**

**He shot a nasty look sideways at Harry, whose untidy hair had always been a source of great annoyance to Uncle Vernon.**

"The Potter hair is awesome!" James said.

**Compared to the man on the television, however, whose gaunt face was surrounded by a matted, elbow-length tangle, Harry felt very well groomed indeed.**

**The reporter had reappeared.**

**"The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will announce today —"**

**"Hang on!" barked Uncle Vernon, staring furiously at the reporter. "You didn't tell us where that maniac's escaped from! What use is that? Lunatic could be coming up the street right now!"**

"Yeah like you are that important." Ginny said.

"Somebody really needs to set these people right." Rose added.

The Marauders all exchanged looks which did not go unnoticed by James II.

"I am on too." He added to them.

The Marauders smirked at him while the others just stared at the weird exchange which took place between them.

**Aunt Petunia, who was bony and horse-faced, whipped around and peered intently out of the kitchen window. Harry knew Aunt Petunia would simply love to be the one to call the hot line number. She was the nosiest woman in the world and spent most of her life spying on the boring, law-abiding neighbors.**

Lily snorted.

**"When will they_learn_," said Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his large purple fist, "that hanging's the only way to deal with these people?"**

"WHO ASKED FOR YOUR OPINION?" Harry yelled.

The first generation looked on in surprise as everyone from the future was either pale faced or was clenching their fists or biting their lips. Harry in particular seemed to be trembling.

"I'd like to hang you, you overgrown walrus." Albus said.

"You probably won't be able to since his weight might cause the rope to fall off." James II said smirking.

That really helped in lightning the mood as they all laughed at that.

"**Very true," said Aunt Petunia, who was still squinting into next door's runner-beans.**

**Uncle Vernon drained his teacup, glanced at his watch, and added, "I'd better be off in a minute, Petunia. Marge's train gets in at ten."**

**Harry, whose thoughts had been upstairs with the Broomstick Servicing Kit, was brought back to earth with an unpleasant bump.**

**"Aunt Marge?" he blurted out. "Sh-_she's_not coming here, is she?"**

"I take it that she is not good news." James said.

"You have no idea." Harry muttered.

**Aunt Marge was Uncle Vernon's sister. Even though she was not a blood relative of Harry's (whose mother had been Aunt Petunia's sister), he had been forced to call her 'Aunt' all his life. Aunt Marge lived in the country, in a house with a large garden, where she bred bulldogs. She didn't often stay at Privet Drive, because she couldn't bear to leave her precious dogs, but each of her visits stood out horribly vividly in Harry's mind.**

"Oh Merlin what did she do?" Sirius said.

**At Dudley's fifth birthday party, Aunt Marge had whacked Harry around the shins with her walking stick to stop him from beating Dudley at musical statues.**

James blasted off a dummy.

"Why that…." Rose began.

**A few years later, she had turned up at Christmas with a computerized robot for Dudley and a box of dog biscuits for Harry.**

"HE IS NOT A DOG YOU BITCH!" Lily shrieked.

James was trembling with fury and he blasted off another dummy. Sirius had gone white in the face.

After a few minutes during which Albus and Lily II each blasted a dummy, Ron continued to read.

**On her last visit, the year before Harry started at Hogwarts, Harry had accidentally trodden on the tail of her favorite dog. Ripper had chased Harry out into the garden and up a tree, and Aunt Marge had refused to call him off until past midnight.**

"I am glad you blew her up, Harry." Ron said.

"You… blew her up." James said cooling off a little.

"You'll see in this chapter." Harry said.

"Bet that was a good lesson." Lily said. Usually she would have reprimanded anyone for doing something like that but honestly this woman deserved it. She wondered what Marge could have done to get Harry angry enough to blow her up.

"It is a pity that the Ministry wizards modified her memory." Harry said.

"Oh. I forgot." Remus said. "Did you get in trouble with the Ministry? I mean you had already got a warning and all."

"No." Harry said.

"It is explained." Victoire added.

**The memory of this incident still brought tears of laughter to Dudley's eyes.**

"Git." Rose muttered.

"Harry…" Ginny said giving him a sweet smile. "As soon as we get back, we are paying a visit to your dear relatives."

"They are not even worthy of being given the term 'relatives.'" James II said.

"**Marge'll be here for a week,"**

**Uncle Vernon snarled, "and while we're on the subject," he pointed a fat finger threateningly at Harry, "we need to get a few things straight before I go and collect her."**

**Dudley smirked and withdrew his gaze from the television. Watching Harry being bullied by Uncle Vernon was Dudley's favorite form of entertainment.**

"I'd like to see you get bullied." Ron said. "On a second thought, maybe I should send Fred and George over to their house again."

"He is such a spoiled kid." Victoire said.

**Firstly," growled Uncle Vernon, "you'll keep a civil tongue in your head when you're talking to Marge."**

**"All right," said Harry bitterly, "if she does when she's talking to me.**"

"You tell him Dad!" Albus said.

Harry found it weird that Albus was calling him 'Dad'. It was the first time. Probably they had decided that they would call them by their names to make them comfortable and Albus was most likely referring to his future self….but still it was weird.

"**Secondly," said Uncle Vernon, acting as though he had not heard Harry's reply, "as Marge doesn't know anything about your_abnormality_,**

Shouts broke out at that including James and Sirius blasting off two more dummies.

"_Abnormality!"_ Lily said. "I know they hated me for being a witch but….I never expected this."

"You know if there is anyone abnormal it is him and that whale he calls a son." Scorpius commented.

The others nodded in agreement.

**I don't want any — any_funny_stuff while she's here. You behave yourself, got me?"**

"Bet Vernon loved to see Marge blown up." James II said.

**"I will if she does," said Harry through gritted teeth.**

"Go Harry!"

**"And thirdly," said Uncle Vernon, his mean little eyes now slits in his great purple face, "we've told Marge you attend St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys."**

"What! If anyone needs to attend that school it is your idiot son!" Lily shrieked.

James was rapidly paling. His son had to go through all this. Just because he wasn't there. This made him more determined to change the future.

**_What?"_Harry yelled**

**"And you'll be sticking to that story, boy, or there'll be trouble," spat Uncle Vernon.**

Angry threats were made to Vernon..

**Harry sat there, white-faced and furious, staring at Uncle Vernon, hardly able to believe it. Aunt Marge coming for a weeklong visit — it was the worst birthday present the Dursleys had ever given him, including that pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.**

**Well, Petunia," said Uncle Vernon, getting heavily to his feet, "I'll be off to the station, then. Want to come along for the ride, Dudders?"**

**No," said Dudley, whose attention had returned to the television now that Uncle Vernon had finished threatening Harry.**

**"Duddy's got to make himself smart for his auntie," said Aunt Petunia, smoothing Dudley's thick blond hair. "Mummy's bought him a lovely new bow-tie.**"

"I am gonna be sick." Albus said.

"These people have wrackspurts on their mind." Luna said.

"You know guys. For once I agree with her." Ron said.

"No offence Lily, but really there is something wrong with your sister and her family." Remus said.

"_Something!_ Everything is wrong with them." Rose said.

**Uncle Vernon clapped Dudley on his porky shoulder.**

"Porky shoulder!" Sirius said. "I like that."

**"See you in a bit, then," he said, and he left the kitchen.**

**Harry, who had been sitting in a kind of horrified trance, had a sudden idea. Abandoning his toast, he got quickly to his feet and followed Uncle Vernon to the front door.**

**Uncle Vernon was pulling on his car coat.**

**"I'm not taking_you_," he snarled as he turned to see Harry watching him.**

"As if he wants to go get your ghastly sister and meet her sooner than necessary." James said.

"**Like I wanted to come," said Harry coldly.**

**"I want to ask you something."**

**Uncle Vernon eyed him suspiciously.**

**"Third years at Hog — at my school are allowed to visit the village sometimes," said Harry.**

"Ah! Marauder in making!" James said winking at Remus and Sirius.

"**So?" snapped Uncle Vernon, taking his car keys from a hook next to the door.**

**"I need you to sign the permission form," said Harry in a rush.**

**"And why should I do that?" sneered Uncle Vernon.**

**"Well," said Harry, choosing his words carefully, "it'll be hard work, pretending to Aunt Marge I go to that St. Whatsits…"**

"Yeah! Bargain with him." Lily II said.

"But I guess blowing Marge up did not work in your favor." Remus said.

"**St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys!" bellowed Uncle Vernon, and Harry was pleased to hear a definite note of panic in Uncle Vernon's voice.**

"Ha! Take that you walrus! Never mess with Potters!" James said.

"**Exactly," said Harry, looking calmly up into Uncle Vernon's large, purple face. "It's a lot to remember. I'll have to make it sound convincing, won't I? What if I accidentally let something slip?"**

**"_You'll get the stuffing knocked out of you, won't you?"_roared Uncle Vernon, advancing on Harry with his fist raised.**

"YOU TRY AND I WILL HAUNT YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!" James yelled.

**But Harry stood his ground.**

**"Knocking the stuffing out of me won't make Aunt Marge forget what I could tell her," he said grimly.**

"Haha nice move." James II said.

**Uncle Vernon stopped, his fist still raised, his face an ugly puce.**

"I love these descriptions." Luna said suddenly.

"Agreed!" Victoire said.

**"But if you sign my permission form," Harry went on quickly, "I swear I'll remember where I'm supposed to go to school, and I'll act like a Mug — like I'm normal and everything."**

**Harry could tell that Uncle Vernon was thinking it over, even if his teeth were bared and a vein was throbbing in his temple.**

**"Right," he snapped finally. "I shall monitor your behavior carefully during Marge's visit. If, at the end of it, you've toed the line and kept to the story, I'll sign your ruddy form."**

**He wheeled around, pulled open the front door, and slammed it so hard that one of the little panes of glass at the top fell out.**

**Harry didn't return to the kitchen. He went back upstairs to his bedroom. If he was going to act like a real Muggle, heed better start now. Slowly and sadly he gathered up all his presents and his birthday cards and hid them under the loose floorboard with his homework. Then he went to Hedwig's cage. Errol seemed to have recovered; he and Hedwig were both asleep, heads under their wings. Harry sighed, then poked them both awake**.

"The only things worth living in that place and they take those away from him too. How horrid can anybody get." Lily said. "And my own sister nevertheless."

"I can't believe what jealousy can lead people to." Lily II added.

**"Hedwig," he said gloomily, "you're going to have to clear off for a week. Go with Errol. Ron'll look after you. I'll write him a note, explaining. And don't look at me like that" — Hedwig's large amber eyes were reproachful — "it's not my fault. It's the only way I'll be allowed to visit Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione."**

**Ten minutes later, Errol and Hedwig (who had a note to Ron bound to her leg) soared out of the window and out of sight. Harry, now feeling thoroughly miserable, put the empty cage away inside the wardrobe.**

**But Harry didn't have long to brood. In next to no time, Aunt Petunia was shrieking up the stairs for Harry to come down and get ready to welcome their guest.**

**"Do something about your hair!" Aunt Petunia snapped as he reached the hall.**

"Has she not realized in twelve years that it is not going to work?" James II said shaking his own messy hair.

**Harry couldn't see the point of trying to make his hair lie flat. Aunt Marge loved criticizing him, so the untidier he looked, the happier she would be. All too soon, there was a crunch of gravel outside as Uncle Vernon's car pulled back into the driveway, then the clunk of the car doors and footsteps on the garden path.**

**"Get the door!" Aunt Petunia hissed at Harry.**

"If Marge hates you, then why do they want you to go before her?" Albus asked.

"Maybe to make me more miserable." Harry said.

Lily and Ginny growled.

**A feeling of great gloom in his stomach, Harry pulled the door open.**

**On the threshold stood Aunt Marge. She was very like Uncle Vernon: large, beefy, and purple-faced, she even had a mustache,**

"Really?" Lily said in alarm.

"Gross!" Victoire said.

**though not as bushy as his.**

"Small comfort." Hermione said.

**In one hand she held an enormous suitcase, and tucked under the other was an old and evil-tempered bulldog.**

"Uh….oh. If she brought a bulldog, it definitely means trouble." Hermione said.

"Bulldogs will be nice if you train them properly. As of what I have heard of this woman, I doubt she'd have done that, so the dog would be an unpleasant creature." Victoire said.

James II snorted but Victoire silenced him with a glare.

**"Where's my Dudders?" roared Aunt Marge. "Where's my neffy poo?"**

"Dudders!" Lily II said.

"Forget Dudders! Neffy-poo!" Sirius said doubling over with laughter.

"Seriously!" James said sniggering as did most others in the room.

"Excuse me while I go be sick!" Scorpius said.

**Dudley came waddling down the hall, his blond hair plastered flat to his fat head, a bow tie just visible under his many chins.**

"OK I need to be sick seriously!" Scorpius said.

"He'd look just….gross!" Hermione said.

**Aunt Marge thrust the suitcase into Harry's stomach, knocking the wind out of him, seized Dudley in a tight one-armed hug, and planted a large kiss on his cheek.**

Scorpius actually got up and went into the bathroom and made gaggling noises. Rose rolled her eyes and dragged him out of the place and sat him down.

"Really." She said to him.

Scorpius just smirked at her.

"Why, do I have a very bad feeling that my daughter actually likes a Malfoy in a more than a friend way." Ron whispered to Hermione.

Hermione just frowned at him.

**Harry knew perfectly well that Dudley only put up with Aunt Marge's hugs because he was well paid for it,**

**and sure enough, when they broke apart, Dudley had a crisp twenty-pound note clutched in his fat fist.**

"Ugh…. He is disgusting." Lily said.

"Love and affection can't be bought. It is a pity these people fail to see that." Rose said.

**"Petunia!" shouted Aunt Marge, striding past Harry as though he was a hat-stand. Aunt Marge and Aunt Petunia kissed, or rather, Aunt Marge bumped her large jaw against Aunt Petunias bony cheekbone.**

"I really did not need that mental image." James said.

**Uncle Vernon now came in, smiling jovially as he shut the door.**

**"Tea, Marge?" he said. "And what will Ripper take?"**

**Ripper can have some tea out of my saucer," said Aunt Marge as they all proceeded into the kitchen, leaving Harry alone in the hall with the suitcase.**

"He is going to drink from her own saucer!" Ginny said disgusted.

James II looked really ready to puke. "Even Vikki doesn't go to that extent."

"James Sirius Potter you call me that name again and I will hex you into oblivion!" Victoire said.

James II pouted.

**But Harry wasn't complaining; any excuse not to be with Aunt Marge was fine by him, so he began to heave the case upstairs into the spare bedroom, taking as long as he could.**

**By the time he got back to the kitchen, Aunt Marge had been supplied with tea and fruitcake, and Ripper was lapping noisily in the corner. Harry saw Aunt Petunia wince slightly as specks of tea and drool flecked her clean floor.**

"Yeah. Tuney always hated animals." Lily said.

"And that makes me hate her more and no James don't open your mouth." Victoire said.

"I wasn't about to." James said.

"Not you. This James." She said.

"Well serves Petunia right." Sirius said.

**Aunt Petunia hated animals.**

**"Who's looking after the other dogs, Marge?" Uncle Vernon asked.**

**"Oh, I've got Colonel Fubster managing them," boomed Aunt Marge. "He's retired now, good for him to have something to do. But I couldn't leave poor old Ripper. He pines if he's away from me."**

**Ripper began to growl again as Harry sat down. This directed Aunt Marge's attention to Harry for the first time.**

**"So!" she barked. "Still here, are you?"**

"Oh blow her up already." James said.

"**Yes," said Harry.**

**"Don't you say 'yes' in that ungrateful tone," Aunt Marge growled. "It's damn good of Vernon and Petunia to keep you. Wouldn't have done it myself. You'd have gone straight to an orphanage if you'd been dumped on_my_doorstep."**

"Like he wants to be there." Albus said.

"To be honest he'd probably be better off in an orphanage." James said.

"And he wasn't _dumped _on their doorstep." Lily II said.

"Damn right." James II said.

**Harry was bursting to say that he'd rather live in an orphanage than with the Dursleys, but the thought of the Hogsmeade form stopped him. He forced his face into a painful smile.**

**"Don't you smirk at me!" boomed Aunt Marge.**

"HE IS TRYING TO BE POLITE WITH YOU SOMETHING WHICH YOU TOTALLY DON'T DESERVE." Lily screamed blasting off another dummy. There number was fast decreasing and Harry conjured a few more.

**"I can see you haven't improved since I last saw you. I hoped school would knock some manners into you." She took a large gulp of tea, wiped her mustache, and said, "Where is it that you send him, again, Vernon?"**

**"St. Brutus's," said Uncle Vernon promptly. "It's a first-rate institution for hopeless cases."**

"You are the one which is hopeless not Harry." Ron said.

**"I see," said Aunt Marge. "Do they use the cane at St. Brutus's, boy?" she barked across the table.**

**"Er —"**

**Uncle Vernon nodded curtly behind Aunt Marge's back.**

**"Yes," said Harry. Then, feeling he might as well do the thing properly, he added, "All the time."**

"I…." James began but he could say no more.

Lily had tears down her eyes. So did Ginny and Hermione. They couldn't believe that this was what Harry had to live through.

**"Excellent," said Aunt Marge. "I won't have this namby-pamby, wishy-washy nonsense about not hitting people who deserve it. A good thrashing is what's needed in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. Have_you_been beaten often?"**

"Don't. Anyone. Dare." James said quietly.

**Oh, yeah," said Harry, "loads of times."**

**Aunt Marge narrowed her eyes.**

**"I still don't like your tone, boy," she said. "If you can speak of your beatings in that casual way, they clearly aren't hitting you hard enough. Petunia, I'd write if I were you. Make it clear that you approve the use of extreme force in this boy's case."**

"There are no words to describe the horribleness of this woman…." Victoire said.

"What did Harry ever do to her?" Hermione said.

"She never really tried to know me. She just accepted whatever crap Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia fed her up." Harry said.

"That makes her even more horrid!" Ginny said.

"Yes. Judging somebody on the basis of what others say is just pathetic." Sirius said.

"Stereotypes suck." Remus said softly.

**Perhaps Uncle Vernon was worried that Harry might forget their bargain; in any case, he changed the subject abruptly.**

**"Heard the news this morning, Marge? What about that escaped prisoner, eh?"**

**As Aunt Marge started to make herself at home, Harry caught himself thinking almost longingly of life at number four without her. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia usually encouraged Harry to stay out of their way, which Harry was only too happy to do. Aunt Marge, on the other hand, wanted Harry under her eye at all times, so that she could boom out suggestions for his improvement.**

"And I can boom out a million suggestions for your improvement." James II stage whispered.

**She delighted in comparing Harry with Dudley, and took huge pleasure in buying Dudley expensive presents while glaring at Harry, as though daring him to ask why he hadn't got a present too. She also kept throwing out dark hints about what made Harry such an unsatisfactory person.**

**"You mustn't blame yourself for the way the boy's turned out, Vernon," she said over lunch on the third day. "If there's something rotten on the_inside_, there's nothing anyone can do about it."**

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lily whispered.

Harry bit his lip. Lily was going to be absolutely broken when she heard what Marge said about her and the fact that her own sister whom she cared so much about did not even raise a finger to defend her.

**Harry tried to concentrate on his food, but his hands shook and his face was starting to burn with anger._Remember the form,_he told himself._Think about Hogsmeade. Don't say anything. Don't rise —_**

"Yes Harry. Keep calm. She is not worth it." Lily said.

**Aunt Marge reached for her glass of wine.**

**"It's one of the basic rules of breeding," she said. "You see it all the time with dogs. If there's something wrong with the bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pup —"**

Every single person including Luna stood up and let out screams of outrage.

"SHE JUST DID NOT SAY THAT." James yelled and within minutes the table and the glasses of water as well as James' watch blew apart.

"How…how could she?" Rose said.

Within minutes everyone had their wands out except Lily who seemed to be in a state of shock and each and every dummy was blown apart. Harry felt tears in his eyes. He hated having to live through all this.

The Marauders, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were trembling with fury. The third generation and Luna looked as if they could not still believe that she had said something like that.

"Harry… Why didn't you ever tell us?" Ron whispered. Hermione nodded vigorously by his side.

"I just…I just didn't want to repeat those words or live through any of it again." Harry said in the same pitch.

"Oh Harry!" Ginny said and hugged him and as soon as she left him he heard James' panicked voice and every face turned in his direction.

He was kneeling beside Lily who seemed to be still in shock.

"Lily…Lily please talk… We'll change all of this". James said shaking her. Harry went and kneeled beside James.

"Lily….Mum…." Harry said equally worried.

Albus closed his eyes in concentration and then a glass vial appeared in his hand full of some potion.

"Here." He said. "It is a calming draught."

Harry took it from him muttering a thanks and somehow managed to make Lily drink it.

Slowly the shocked look began to go from her eyes. She placed her hands on Harry's shoulders tears in her eyes. "She…she just let her say all that."

Harry bowed his head and nodded.

Lily nodded too. "Let's just continue reading." She said.

There were reparos muttered and everything was brought back to normal. Harry conjured more dummied.

"You mean there is more….." Remus asked.

"Worse…." Harry whispered.

Sirius couldn't help but wonder again where he was and why he wasn't there to save Harry.

**At that moment, the wineglass Aunt Marge was holding exploded in her hand. Shards of glass flew in every direction and Aunt Marge sputtered and blinked, her great ruddy face dripping.**

"Well done Harry." James said.

"I wish the glass hurt her." Rose said.

"And badly." Ginny added.

"**Marge!" squealed Aunt Petunia. "Marge, are you all right?"**

**"Not to worry," grunted Aunt Marge, mopping her face with her napkin. "Must have squeezed it too hard. Did the same thing at Colonel Fubster's the other day. No need to fuss, Petunia, I have a very firm grip…"**

**But Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were both looking at Harry suspiciously, so he decided he'd better skip dessert and escape from the table as soon as he could.**

**Outside in the hall, he leaned against the wall, breathing deeply. It had been a long time since he'd lost control and made something explode. He couldn't afford to let it happen again. The Hogsmeade form wasn't the only thing at stake — if he carried on like that, he'd be in trouble with the Ministry of Magic.**

"Again these people aren't worth it. Don't get yourself in trouble for them." Lily said.

"I couldn't have just let her insult you." Harry said fiercely. Lily gave him a weak smile.

**Harry was still an underage wizard, and he was forbidden by wizard law to do magic outside school. His record wasn't exactly clean either. Only last summer he'd gotten an official warning that had stated quite clearly that if the Ministry got wind of any more magic in Privet Drive,**

**Harry would face expulsion from Hogwarts.**

"I don't think they would expel the boy who lived." Ron said.

Harry and Hermione gave him a look.

"Er…at that time." He corrected.

**He heard the Dursleys leaving the table and hurried upstairs out of the way.**

"Wise move." Lily II said.

**Harry got through the next three days by forcing himself to think about his_Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare_whenever Aunt Marge started on him. This worked quite well, though it seemed to give him a glazed look, because Aunt Marge started voicing the opinion that he was mentally subnormal.**

"Thanks again for that gift Hermione. That was the only thing which kept me sane during the week." Harry said.

Hermione smiled sadly.

**At last, at long last, the final evening of Marge's stay arrived. Aunt Petunia cooked a fancy dinner and Uncle Vernon uncorked several bottles of wine. They got all the way through the soup and the salmon without a single mention of Harry's faults; during the lemon meringue pie, Uncle Vernon bored them a with a long talk about Grunnings, his drill-making company; then Aunt Petunia made coffee and Uncle Vernon brought out a bottle of brandy.**

**"Can I tempt you, Marge?"**

**Aunt Marge had already had quite a lot of wine. Her huge face was very red.**

**"Just a small one, then," she chuckled. "A bit more than that…and a bit more…that's the ticket."**

"You know. I am getting a sick mental image." James II said.

"You are not the only one James. It is a pity Rose will not let me puke." Scorpius said.

"You have no need to puke. You just like melodrama." Rose said.

**Dudley was eating his fourth slice of pie.**

"Pig." Sirius said.

**Aunt Petunia was sipping coffee with her little finger sticking out.**

"Horse." Sirius said.

This time everyone snorted. Sirius lightened the mood a bit.

**Harry really wanted to disappear into his bedroom, but he met Uncle Vernon's angry little eyes and knew he would have to sit it out.**

"If they would have just let you go, there would have been no need for that woman….if she can be called a human….to have blown up. Not that I am complaining, she deserved much more than that." Hermione said.

**"Aah," said Aunt Marge, smacking her lips and putting the empty brandy glass back down. "Excellent nosh, Petunia. It's normally just a fry-up for me of an evening, with twelve dogs to look after…"**

**She burped richly and patted her great tweed stomach. "Pardon me. But I do like to see a healthy-sized boy," she went on, winking at Dudley. "You'll be a proper-sized man, Dudders, like your father. Yes, I'll have a spot more brandy, Vernon…"**

**"Now, this one here —"**

"Are you sure this Marge isn't Bellatrix in disguise attempting to kill you?" Sirius said.

They all laughed at that.

**She jerked her head at Harry, who felt his stomach clench._The Handbook_, he thought quickly.**

**"This one's got a mean, runty look about him. You get that with dogs. I had Colonel Fubster drown one last year. Ratty little thing it was. Weak. Underbred."**

Again the dummies were set on fire.

"Did….she just suggest that…that…." James couldn't go on. His eyes had gotten very glassy.

"That my father should be killed." James II said trembling.

Lily II was crying softly while Albus had his arms around her trying to console his little sister.

Lily was taking deep breaths."Thank you Albus for the potion." She said still breathing deeply.

Albus nodded at her not sure if he'd be able to speak.

"Just read Ron. The faster it gets over, the better for all." Harry said.

**Harry was trying to remember page twelve of his book:_A Charm to Cure Reluctant Reversers._**

**"It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other day.**

"No…" James said seeing where this was going.

**Bad blood will out. Now, I'm saying nothing against your family, Petunia" — she patted Aunt Petunia's bony hand with her shovel-like one "but your sister was a bad egg. They turn up in the best families. Then she ran off with a wastrel. and here's the result right in front of us."**

"HOW DARE SHE CALL JAMES A WASTREL…." Sirius screamed.

"And they did not run away. They had a proper wedding." Albus said.

"To which your _wastrel_ brother and his wife had been invited and which they did not attend." James II added.

"How can Aunt Petunia just sit there and not say a word in defense of her own sister" Rose said.

"She is horrid! If anyone dared say even a quarter of that for Dominique, I would have done an unforgivable!" Victoire said.

"Marge deserves to rot in hell!" Ginny said.

"You know what….." Lily said softly. Everyone shut up and looked at her. "It doesn't hurt me that this Marge is saying this stuff about me. She is nobody to me. What hurts is the fact that my own sister is quietly listening to all this. I knew that Petunia was always jealous of me for being a witch. She even wrote to Dumbledore asking if she could attend Hogwarts. After his refusal, she got even more jealous. Then she began to term my magical abilities as freakishness. It hurt me but I never let it get me down because I always believed that somewhere deep down she is still the Tuney I knew and she cares about me. Today, I know how wrong I was…." Tears began to pour out of her eyes. There was pin drop silence.

James put his arm around her again. This time she did not push away but leaned into him crying on his shirt.

After a few tense moments, Ron continued to read.

**Harry was staring at his plate, a funny ringing in his ears._Grasp your broom firmly by the tail_, he thought. But he couldn't remember what came next. Aunt Marge's voice seemed to be boring into him like one of Uncle Vernon's drills.**

**"This Potter," said Aunt Marge loudly, seizing the brandy bottle and splashing more into her glass and over the tablecloth, "you never told me what he did?"**

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were looking extremely tense. Dudley had even looked up from his pie to gape at his parents.**

**"He — didn't work," said Uncle Vernon, with half a glance at Harry. "Unemployed."**

Gasps were let out at this.

"He was an auror you fat elephant! And a well known Order member!" James II said.

"I was?" James gaped at his grandson.

**"As I expected!" said Aunt Marge, taking a huge swig of brandy and wiping her chin on her sleeve. "A no-account, good-for-nothing, lazy scrounger who —"**

Sirius, Remus, Harry, James II, Albus and Lily II all blasted off dummies. Sirius went one step ahead and blasted off three of them.

**"He was not," said Harry suddenly. The table went very quiet. Harry was shaking all over. He had never felt so angry in his life.**

"Damn right he wasn't." Sirius said.

"No Harry. I don't care what these people think about me. I don't give a damn about it. Don't get yourself in trouble and lose the chance to go to Hogsmeade," James said.

"Well, I do. I can't just have her go on insulting you or Mum. Hogsmeade was nothing to the anger I had felt." Harry said.

James was touched.

**"MORE BRANDY!" yelled Uncle Vernon, who had gone very white. He emptied the bottle into Aunt Marge's glass. "You, boy," he snarled at Harry. "Go to bed, go on —"**

"Yes please go." Lily said.

**"No, Vernon," hiccupped Aunt Marge, holding up a hand, her tiny bloodshot eyes fixed on Harry's. "Go on, boy, go on. Proud of your parents, are you? They go and get themselves killed in a car crash (drunk, I expect) —"**

"If they were drunk then what are you oh most pleasant woman on earth?" James II said.

**They didn't die in a car crash!" said Harry, who found himself on his feet.**

**"They died in a car crash, you nasty little liar, and left you to be a burden on their decent, hardworking relatives!" screamed Aunt Marge, swelling with fury. "You are an insolent, ungrateful little —"**

"NO HE ISN'T AND THEY DID NOT DIE IN A CAR CRASH!" Sirius said.

"They died fighting like heroes showing true Gryffindor bravery." Hermione said.

"They died for their son." Luna said softly.

"They died so that Muggles like you could live in peace." Scorpius said.

"Thanks all of you….." James whispered. Lily nodded too.

**But Aunt Marge suddenly stopped speaking. For a moment, it looked as though words had failed her. She seemed to be swelling with inexpressible anger — but the swelling didn't stop.**

**Her great red face started to expand, her tiny eyes bulged, and her mouth stretched too tightly for speech — next second, several buttons had just burst from her tweed jacket and pinged off the walls — she was inflating like a monstrous balloon, her stomach bursting free of her tweed waistband, each of her fingers blowing up like a salami…**

"You blew her." Remus said matter of factly.

"She deserved it." Rose said.

"She deserved worse." Ron said. "You were easy on her Harry."

"I still wish she remembered." Harry said smiling after a long while.

"We reminded her." James II said exchanging a glance with Albus and Lily II.

"What. How?" James asked.

"Oh. Well you see we happened to run into her once and she said some things…..not as unpleasant as this and she very much annoyed the then second year Lily and she managed to color her hair pink, purple and yellow. When Albus and I saw this we added a few effects of our own and her face matched her hair. You see the underage wizard crap has been removed in our times so we had nothing to fear from. Dad and Mum didn't even come to know and after a while we managed to make her alright. Dad was always amazed that why after that she was so cordial with him. Of course we did not know that he himself had blown her up…."

"You guys are awesome!" James and Sirius said.

**"MARGE!" yelled Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia together as Aunt Marge's whole body began to rise off her chair toward the ceiling. She was entirely round, now, like a vast life buoy with piggy eyes, and her hands and feet stuck out weirdly as she drifted up into the air, making apoplectic popping noises. Ripper came skidding into the room, barking madly.**

**"NOOOOOOO!"**

**Uncle Vernon seized one of Marge's feet and tried to pull her down again, but was almost lifted from the floor himself. A second later, Ripper leapt forward and sank his teeth into Uncle Vernon's leg.**

"Haha. The dog did its' bit!" Victoire said.

**Harry tore from the dining room before anyone could stop him, heading for the cupboard under the stairs. The cupboard door burst magically open as he reached it. In seconds, he had heaved his trunk to the front door. He sprinted upstairs and threw himself under the bed, wrenching up the loose floorboard, and grabbed the pillowcase full of his books and birthday presents. He wriggled out, seized Hedwig's empty cage, and dashed back downstairs to his trunk, just as Uncle Vernon burst out of the dining room, his trouser leg in bloody tatters.**

**"COME BACK IN HERE!" he bellowed. "COME BACK AND PUT HER RIGHT!"**

**But a reckless rage had come over Harry. He kicked his trunk open, pulled out his wand, and pointed it at Uncle Vernon.**

"Hex him! Hex him!" Sirius said.

"Sirius! He is probably already in a lot of trouble. He doesn't need to make things worse.

**She deserved it," Harry said, breathing very fast. "She deserved what she got. You keep away from me."**

"Like hell you do." Albus said.

**He fumbled behind him for the latch on the door.**

"I'm going," Harry said. "I've had enough."

**And in the next moment, he was out in the dark, quiet street, heaving his heavy trunk behind him, Hedwig's cage under his arm.**

"That is the end of the chapter." Ron said.

"Well it was a long one." Rose said.

"I wish I could go there and deal with this Marge and Petunia just now." Lily said recovering a bit.

"Well…..if you really want to….." James II said and exchanged a glance with Victoire and Rose. Rose just shrugged while Victoire gave him an evil smirk. "Something can be done."

* * *

**Phew! This was one hard chapter to write! I really wanted to show their anger. Hope it came out OK.**

**Review please! I love those! And a big thanks to Johanni93 and ginny-malfoy22 for reviewing.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Not mine**

**Chapter 3**

"How?" Lily said on the edge of her seat. "How can I go and beat the crap out of my sister?"

"You can use this latest time turner to go yell at her." Victoire said. "But I will suggest you wait a little while to cool off. Er…you see it will really not be advisable if more magic occurs there….if you know what I mean."

"Well verbal abuse is Lily's specialty!" Sirius said grinning.

"So lets continue reading." Ginny said.

Remus took the book from Ron.

"Just one very important before we start with this chapter." James II said glancing briefly at Harry who gave him a small smile.

"Yeah?" Lily said.

"OK. See. You remember the convict you heard about in the first chapter." He said.

Sirius began paling rapidly as did James and Remus and Lily looked on wide eyed.

"It was Sirius. Don't interrupt. He was wrongly accused of crimes committed by somebody else and sent to Azkaban. So whatever the wizarding world knows about him is a very big lie." James II finished.

The Marauders and Lily looked as if they were ready to faint. "Azkaban…" Sirius whispered.

"How in Merlin's name did you escape Sirius?" James whispered.

"He knew he was innocent." Harry said softly. "That kept him sane and he escaped as Padfoot."

"I see what you mean when you say we need to change the future. It is terrible." Remus said.

"One second." Lily said. "Harry, what do you mean _as_ Padfoot."

Harry smiled. "It is not my secret to tell." He said glancing at the Marauders.

"Lets' read!" James said loudly.

"You do know that she will know eventually." Hermione said.

James and Sirius moaned. Lily looked confused.

Remus hastily began reading.

**3. The Knight Bus**

**Harry was several streets away before he collapsed onto a low wall in Magnolia Crescent, panting from the effort of dragging his trunk. He sat quite still, anger still surging through him, listening to the frantic thumping of his heart.**

**But after ten minutes alone in the dark street, a new emotion overtook him: panic.** **Whichever way he looked at it, he had never been in a worse fix. He was stranded, quite alone, in the dark Muggle world, with absolutely nowhere to go.**

"Oh no! I just cannot wait to lay my hands on Petunia Dursley and that husband of hers." Lily said.

"Lily, relax the title of the chapter is the knight bus meaning he will call the bus." James said.

**And the worst of it was, he had just done serious magic, which meant that he was almost certainly expelled from Hogwarts. He had broken the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry so badly, he was surprised Ministry of Magic officials weren't swooping down on him where he sat.**

"It was accidental magic. So you should be alright." James said.

**Harry shivered and looked up and down Magnolia Crescent. What was going to happen to him? Would he be arrested, or would he simply be outlawed from the wizarding world?**

"Aren't you over thinking a little?" Rose said.

"That is Harry for you the king of pessimism?" Ron said.

** He thought of Ron and Hermione, and his heart sank even lower. Harry was sure that, criminal or not, Ron and Hermione would want to help him now,**

"You bet mate." Ron said.

** but they were both abroad****and with Hedwig gone, he had no means of contacting them.**

**He didn't have any Muggle money, either. There was a little wizard gold in his moneybag at the bottom of his trunk, but the rest of the fortune his parents had left him was stored in a vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank in London. Unless...**

"No!" James said.

"You actually thought that!" James II said.

The others looked puzzled.

**He looked down at his wand, which he was still clutching in his hand. If he was already expelled (his heart was now thumping painfully fast), a bit more magic couldn't hurt. He had the Invisibility Cloak he had inherited from his father – what if he bewitched the trunk to make it feather-light, tied it to his broomstick, covered himself in the Cloak, and flew to London?**

"Oh no!" Lily said.

"Seriously Harry!" Hermione said.

"Yeah! I mean come on Harry. You're acting as if you have just killed Marge or something." Scorpius said.

**There he could get the rest of his money out of his vault and... begin his life as an outcast.**

The others couldn't stop themselves and burst out laughing.

"Outcast!" James said.

"Really now that is heights of overreaction."

"Stop it. I was just a thirteen year old who felt that he may be expelled from Hogwarts which was like all my nightmares coming true at once." Harry said.

That shut everyone up.

**It was a horrible prospect, but he couldn't sit on this wall for ever or he'd find himself trying to explain to the Muggle police why he was out in the dead of night with a trunkful of spellbooks and a broomstick.**

"I'd like to see them, you know." Lily II said.

**Harry opened his trunk again and pushed the contents aside, looking for the Invisibility Cloak – but before he had found it, he straightened up suddenly, looking around him once more.**

**A funny prickling on the back of his neck had made Harry feel he was being watched, **

"Uh….oh….who is it now?" Remus said.

**but the street appeared to be deserted, and no lights shone from any of the large square houses.**

**He bent over his trunk again, but almost immediately stood up once more, his hand clenched over his wand.**

**He had sensed rather than heard it: someone or something was standing in the narrow gap between the garage and the fence behind him. **

"Could it be a Death Eater?" Lily said.

"What would a Death Eater do over there?" Albus said.

"Looking for Harry of course." James said.

Albus suddenly remembered that they knew nothing about the blood magic and mentally kicked himself, dodging the glares his siblings and cousins were giving him.

**Harry squinted at the black alleyway. If only it would move, then he'd know whether it was just a stray cat – or something else.**

"**_Lumos_****," Harry whispered, and a light appeared at the end of his wand, almost dazzling him. He held it over his head, and the pebble-dashed walls of number two suddenly sparkled; the garage door gleamed, and between them, Harry saw, quite distinctly, the hulking outline of something very big, with wide, gleaming eyes.**

Sirius gasped.

Lily looked at him curiously but he shook his head.

James just looked dizzy and Remus was as blank as ever.

**Harry stepped backwards. His legs hit his trunk and he tripped****. ****His wand flew out of his hand as he flung out an arm to break his fall,**** and he landed, hard, in the gutter.**

**There was a deafening BANG**

**BANG** **and Harry threw up his hands to shield his eyes against a sudden blinding light...**

**"Knight bus to the rescue!" Rose said.**

**With a yell, he rolled back onto the pavement, just in time. A second later, a gigantic pair of wheels and headlights had screeched to a halt exactly where Harry had just been lying. They belonged, as Harry saw when he raised his head, to a triple-decker, violently purple bus, which had appeared out of thin air. Gold lettering over the windscreen spelled****_The Knight Bus_****.**

Everyone cheered.

"Out of curiosity why are you all so excited at the sound of it? The knight bus always makes me want to puke." Harry said.

"Well it is about to make sure you are safe." Ginny pointed.

"And I hope you don't do something as stupid as grabbing the gold and making a run for it." James said.

"Yeah that'll only make the situation worse." Remus said.

"Don't worry he doesn't do anything like that." Albus said.

"And even if he did it, Ron and I would have searched the globe for him to kick his ass!" Hermione said.

Harry rolled his eyes.

**For a split second, Harry wondered if he had been knocked silly by his fall. Then a conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and began to speak loudly to the night.**

"**Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this eve –"**

**The conductor stopped abruptly. He had just caught sight of Harry, who was still sitting on the ground. Harry snatched up his wand again and scrambled to his feet. Close to, he saw that Stan Shunpike was only a few years older than he was; eighteen or nineteen at most,**

"So the one in our time retires." Remus said.

"He was getting quite old." Sirius said.

"He was a good old chap nevertheless." James said.

** with large, protruding ears and a fair few freckles.**

**What 'choo doin' down there?" said Stan, dropping his professional manner.**

"**Fell over," said Harry.**

"'**Choo fall over for?" sniggered Stan.**

"**I didn't do it on purpose," said Harry, annoyed.**

"Of course he didn't." Lily II huffed.

**"Is Stan Shunpike as stupid as he looks?" James II said.**

** One of the knees in his jeans was torn, and the hand he had thrown out to break his fall was bleeding.**

"Well you are not really looking sane at the moment Harry. No offense." Ron said.

"Yeah you look like the blibbering humdinger attacked you." Luna said.

"Er….yeah you look like that Harry." Ron said biting his lips. Harry wasn't sure whether to laugh or not. Hermione smacked Ron on the head. Ron glared at her. She just rolled her eyes.

"Is _she _normal and sane?" Sirius whispered to James II.

"Er….she is _kind of_ sane. I am not sure about the normal part, you know."

Sirius just looked on between James II and Luna mouth open.

"You get used to her." James II said. "She is much better in the future."

**He suddenly remembered why he had fallen over, and turned around quickly to stare at the alleyway between the garage and fence. The Knight Bus's headlamps were flooding it with light, and it was empty.**

"'**Choo looking at?" said Stan.**

"You know that choo thing is getting annoying." Lily said. "Just why can't he simply say 'you'?"

"Er…..pronunciation problem?" Scorpius suggested.

Lily gave him a glare which effectively shut him up. Rose giggled. "At least now I know how to get him to shut up!" She said.

"**There was a big black thing," said Harry, pointing uncertainly into the gap. "Like a dog... but massive..."**

**He looked around at Stan, whose mouth was slightly open. With a feeling of unease, Harry saw Stan's eyes move to the scar on Harry's forehead.**

"**Woss that on your 'ead?" said Stan abruptly.**

"That scar!" Hermione said exasperated.

"**Nothing," said Harry quickly, flattening his head over his head. If the Ministry of Magic was looking for him, he didn't want to make it too easy for them.**

**"You know you are reminding me of movies where the hero is wrongly accused and is trying to run away!" Lily said. Hermione snorted.**

"**Woss your name?" Stan persisted.**

"**Neville Longbottom," said Harry, saying the first name that came into his head. **

"Really?" Ron snorted.

**"So – so this bus," he went on quickly, hoping to distract Stan, "did you say it goes****_anywhere_****?"**

"**Yep," said Stan proudly, "anywhere you like, long's it's on land. Can't do nuffink underwater.**

**"Well….duh…" Scorpius said.**

** 'Ere," he said, looking suspicious again, "you****_did_****flag us down, dincha? Stuck out your wand 'and, dincha?"**

"**Yes," said Harry quickly. "Listen, how much would it be to get to London?"**

"**Eleven Sickles," said Stan, "but for firteen you get 'ot chocolate, and for fifteen you get an 'ot-water bottle an' a toofbrush in the colour of your choice."**

"Interesting." Lily said.

**Harry rummaged once more in his trunk, extracted his money bag, and shoved some silver into Stan's hand. He and Stan then lifted his trunk, with Hedwig's cage balanced on top, up the steps of the bus.**

**There were no seats; instead, half-a-dozen brass bedsteads stood beside the curtained windows. Candles were burning in brackets beside each bed, illuminating the wood-panelled walls. A tiny wizard in a nightcap at the rear of the bus muttered, "Not now, thanks, I'm pickling some slugs," and rolled over in his sleep.**

"Reminds me of Sirius." James said grinning.

"And whenever I hear the word 'slugs' it reminds me of an incident." Harry said laughing. Hermione smiled. Ron pouted.

"**You 'ave this one," Stan whispered, shoving Harry's trunk under the bed right behind the driver,**

**who was sitting in an armchair in front of the steering wheel. "This is our driver, Ernie Prang. This is Neville Longbottom, Ern."**

**Ernie Prang, an elderly wizard wearing very thick glasses, nodded to Harry, who nervously flattened his fringe again and sat down on his bed.**

"**Take 'er away, Ern," said Stan, sitting down in the armchair next to Ernie's.**

**There was another tremendous BANG****and next moment Harry found himself flat on his bed, thrown backwards by the speed of the Knight Bus.**

"The first experience on the knight bus is well…quite some experience." Lily said.

**Pulling himself up, Harry stared out of the dark window and saw that they were now bowling along a completely different street. Stan was watching Harry's stunned face with great enjoyment.**

"I am liking this guy less and less with each line." Albus said.

This is where we was before you flagged us down," he said. "Where are we, Ern? Somewhere in Wales?"

"Ar," said Ernie.

"How come the Muggles don't hear the bus?" said Harry.

"Them!" said Stan contemptuously. "Don' listen properly, do they? Don' look properly either. Never notice nuffink, they don'."

"Best go wake up Madam Marsh, Stan," said Ern. "We'll be in Abergavenny in a minute."

Stan passed Harry's bed and disappeared up a narrow wooden staircase. Harry was still looking out of the window, feeling increasingly nervous. Ernie didn't seem to have mastered the use of a steering wheel.

"We did cause a lot of trouble when we were returning via the knight bus once during summer from Hogwarts." James II said.

"Yeah! So many of us getting on. Gave old Ernie quite a scare!" Lily II said.

"And it did not help when you, Fred and Teddy used those silly crackers on the conductor." Victoire said.

"Aw…..but you loved the day Vikki." James II said.

"Yeah after all it was the day Teddy…." Rose began

"Shut up!" Victoire said blushing furiously and she even forgot to reprimand James for calling her Vikki.

"Speaking of Teddy, shouldn't he be here by now?" Albus said.

"Must have forgotten the time." Victoire rolled her eyes.

"Yeah he can't do anything if you are not breathing down his neck." Lily II said.

They snorted.

"Excuse me for interrupting your lovely conversation but who is Teddy?" Ron said.

"Oh he is Vikki's boyfriend!" James II said in a sing song voice.

"And soon to be fiancée." Rose stage whispered.

"Shut up!" Victoire said again.

"He is. He has got a ring and all." James II whispered to those closest to him James, Lily and Sirius and Albus and Rose nodded.

"You'll meet him. He will be here soon." Scorpius said.

** The Knight Bus kept mounting the pavement, but it didn't hit anything; lines of lamp posts, letter boxes, and bins jumped out of its way as it approached and back into position once it had passed.**

"And that is why folks. It is called magic!" Sirius said.

"Black!" Lily moaned.

**Stan came back downstairs, followed by a faintly green witch wrapped in a travelling cloak.**

"'**Ere you go, Madam Marsh," said Stan happily, as Ern stamped on the brake and the beds slid a foot or so towards the front of the bus. Madam March clamped a handkerchief to her mouth and tottered down the steps. Stan threw her bag out after her and rammed the doors shut; there was another loud BANG** **and they were thundering down a narrow country lane, trees leaping out of the way.**

**Harry wouldn't have been able to sleep even if he had been travelling on a bus that didn't keep banging loudly and jumping a hundred miles at a time. His stomach churned as he fell back to wondering what was going to happen to him, and whether the Dursleys had managed to get Aunt Marge down from the ceiling yet.**

**"**I wish they never could." Lily said and the mood darkened as they were reminded of Marge.

**Stan had unfurled a copy of the****_Daily Prophet_****and was now reading with his tongue between his teeth. A large photograph of a sunken-faced man with long, matted hair blinked slowly at Harry from the front page. He looked strangely familiar.**

**That man!" Harry said, forgetting his troubles for a moment. "He was on the Muggle news!"**

**Stanley turned back to the front page and chuckled.**

**Sirius Black," he said, nodding. "'Course 'e was on the Muggle news, Neville. Where you been?"**

Sirius gasped and paled again as he was reminded of his fate.

**He gave a superior sort of chuckle at the blank look on Harry's face, removed the front page, and handed it to Harry.**

"**You oughta read the papers more, Neville."**

**Harry held the paper up to the candlelight and read:**

**_BLACK STILL AT LARGE_**

"They are all lies Sirius." Harry said.

Sirius nodded but that did not make him feel any better. James put an arm around his best friend.

**_Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today._**

"**_We are doing all we can to recapture Black," said the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical community to remain calm."_**

**_Fudge has been criticised by some members of the International Federation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis._**

"**_Well, really, I had to, don't you know," said an irritable Fudge. "Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it – who'd believe him if he did?"_**

**_While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand which Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse."_**

Sirius was breathing very deeply and James was rubbing his shoulder soothingly.

"Who framed him?" James asked in a deadly whisper.

Everyone thought it was best to stay shut and not

**Harry looked into the shadowed eyes of Sirius Black, the only part of the sunken face that seemed alive.**

Sirius held his head in his hands. James continued to rub his shoulder.

**Harry had never met a vampire, but he had seen pictures of them in his Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, and Black, with his waxy skin, looked just like one.**

"**Scary-lookin' fing, inee?" said Stan, who had been watching Harry read.**

**He murdered****_thirteen people_****?" said Harry, handing the page back to Stan, "with****_one curse_****?"**

James shook his head. Harry had tears running down his face and Ginny was rubbing his hands.

"**Yep," said Stan. "In front of witnesses an' all****. ****Broad daylight. Big trouble it caused, dinnit, Ern?"**

"**Ar," said Ern darkly.**

**Stan swivelled in his armchair, his hands on the back, the better to look at Harry.**

**"Black woz a big supporter of You-Know-'Oo," he said.**

**James blasted off all the remaining dummies. "HE SHOULDN'T BE TALKING ABOUT THINGS HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND!"**

**"EXACTLY!" Remus said.**

**The others nodded in agreement.**

**What, Voldemort?" said Harry, without thinking**

**Even Stan's pimples went white; Ern jerked the steering wheel so hard that a whole farmhouse had to jump aside to avoid the bus.**

"**You outta your tree?" yelped Stan. "'Choo say 'is name for?"**

"God! Seriously!" Rose said annoyed.

"That was one of the worst reactions I got for saying the name." Harry said.

"Sorry," said Harry hastily. "Sorry, I – I forgot –"

"You have to learn how to lie from me Harry." Sirius said managing a small smile

"**Forgot!" said Stan weakly. "Blimey, my 'eart's goin' that fast...**

**:**Hmph." Victoire said.

"**So – so Black was a supporter of You-Know-Who?" Harry prompted apologetically.**

"**Yeah," said Stan, still rubbing his chest. "Yeah, that's right. Very close to You-Know-'Oo, they say... anyway, when little 'Arry Potter put paid to You-Know-'Oo" – Harry nervously flattened his fringe down again – "all You-Know-'Oo's supporters was tracked down, wasn't they, Ern? Most of 'em knew it was over, wiv You-Know-'Oo gone, and they came quiet. But not Sirius Black. I 'eard 'e thought 'e'd be second-in-command once You-Know-'Oo 'ad taken over.**

"That son of a bitch…." James said through gritted teeth.

For once even Lily did not bother to check him for language.

"If it had been after I had come to know the truth, I don't know what I would have done to that guy honestly." Harry said.

A ghost of a smile came onto Sirius' face.

**Anyway, they cornered Black in the middle of a street full of Muggles an' Black took out 'is wand and 'e blasted 'alf the street apart an' a wizard got it, an' so did a dozen Muggles what got in the way. 'Orrible, eh?** **An' you know what Black did then?" Stan continued in a dramatic whisper.**

**What?" said Harry.**

"**_Laughed_****," said Stan**

**Jus' stood there an' laughed. An' when reinforcements from the Ministry of Magic got there, 'e went wiv 'em quiet as anyfink, still laughing 'is 'ead odd. 'Cos 'e's mad, inee, Ern? Inee mad?"**

"Well he is mad!" Remus said trying to lighten the mood.

It worked as they all even Sirius laughed.

"**If he weren't when he went to Azkaban, he will be now," said Ern in his slow voice. "I'd blow meself up before I set foot in that place.**

"**They 'ad a job coverin' it up, din' they, Ern?" Stan said. "'Ole street blown up an' all them Muggles dead. What was it they said 'ad 'appened, Ern?"**

"**Gas explosion," grunted Ernie.**

"It is such a wonder that more than 50 % of these gas explosions, accidents and bomb blasts are actually Voldemort and his Death Eaters." Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Yeah. The name of the terrorists is getting ruined." Rose said.

They all started laughing hysterically. After a few moments Remus continued to read.

"**An' now 'e's out," said Stan examining the newspaper picture of Black's gaunt face again. "Never been a breakout from Azkaban before, 'as there, Ern? Beats me 'ow 'e did it. Frightenin', eh? Mind, I don't fancy 'is chances against them Azkaban guards, eh, Ern?"**

**"He wasn't actually the first one." Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione.**

**"Well he was the first without external assistance." Hermione said matter of factly. **

**Ernie suddenly shivered.**

"**Talk about summat else, Stan, there's a good lad. Them Azkaban guards give me the collywobbles."**

Sirius and Harry shivered.

**Stan put the paper away reluctantly and Harry leaned against the window of the Knight Bus, feeling worse than over. He couldn't help imagining what Stan might be telling his passengers in a few nights' time.**

'**Ear about that 'Arry Potter? Blew up 'is aunt! We 'ad 'im 'ere on the Knight Bus, di'n't we, Ern? 'E was tryin' to run for it..."**

"Harry!" Everyone moaned.

"It is the past guys." Harry said amused. "Or in your case the future that may not happen." He said gesturing to the Marauders and Lily.

**He, Harry, had broken wizard law just like Sirius Black. Was inflating Aunt Marge bad enough to land him in Azkaban?**

"Of course not!" James said horrified that his son had such thoughts. Oh those Dursleys! Just wait till he got his hands on them.

**Harry didn't know anything about the wizard prison, though everyone he'd ever heard speak of it had done so in the same fearful tone. Hagrid the Hogwarts gamekeeper had spent two months there only last year. **

"Ugh…I hate Fudge." James II said.

"Yeah putting Hagrid there just to show that 'the Ministry is doing something.'" Sirius said.

"The Ministry is thankfully much better in our time." Rose said.

"That is good to know." Harry muttered.

**Harry wouldn't soon forget the look of terror on Hagrid's face when he had been told where he was going, and Hagrid was one of the bravest people Harry knew.**

**The Knight Bus rolled through the darkness, scattering bushes and bollards, telephone boxes and trees, and Harry lay, restless and miserable, on his feather bed. After a while, Stan remembered that Harry had paid for hot chocolate, but poured it all over Harry's pillow when the bus moved abruptly from Anglesey to Aberdeen.**

"Oh well done!" Ginny said sarcastically.

**One by one, wizards and witches in dressing gowns and slippers descended from the upper floors to leave the bus. They all looked very pleased to go.**

**Finally, Harry was the only passenger left.**

"**Right then, Nevile," said Stan, clapping his hands, "whereabouts in London?"**

"**Diagon Alley," said Harry.**

"**Righto," said Stan, "'old tight, then..."**

**BANG**

**They were thundering along Charing Cross Road. Harry sat up and watching buildings and benches squeezing themselves out of the Knight Bus's way. They sky was getting a little lighter. He would lie low for a couple of hours, go to Gringotts the moment it opened, then set off – where, he didn't slammed on the brakes and the Knight Bus skidded to a halt in front of a small and shabby-looking pub, the Leaky Cauldron, behind which lay the magical entrance to Diagon Alley.**

"**Thanks," Harry said to Ern.**

**He jumped down the steps and helped Stan lower his trunk and Hedwig's cage onto the pavement.**

"**Well," said Harry, "bye then!"**

**But Stan wasn't paying attention. Still standing in the doorway to the bus, he was goggling at the shadowy entrance to the Leaky Cauldron**

"**_There_****you are, Harry," said a voice.**

"Oh who now!" Lily said exasperated.

**Before Harry could turn, he felt a hand on his shoulder. At the same time, Stan shouted, "Blimey! Ern, come 'ere! Come****_'ere_****!"**

**Harry looked up at the owner of the hand on his shoulder and felt a bucketful of ice cascade into his stomach – he had walked right into Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic himself. **

"You have some luck Harry!" Sirius said.

"His bad luck is only bad!" Ron said grinning.

Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes at him.

"It gets worse as he grows." Rose said.

"Oh we are in for a joy ride, aren't we?" James said.

"The books won't do good to your blood pressure or stress level." Victoire said grinning.

**Stan leapt onto the pavement beside them.**

"**What didja call Neville, Minister?" he said excitedly.**

**Fudge, a portly little man in a long, pinstriped cloak, looked cold and exhausted.**

"**Neville?" he repeated, frowning. "This is Harry Potter."**

"**I knew it!" Stan shouted gleefully. "Ern! Ern! Guess 'oo Neville is, Ern! 'E's 'Arry Potter! I can see 'is scar!"**

"Er….." Albus said.

"Don't comment Al please!" Scorpius said.

"**Yes," said Fudge testily. "Well, I'm very glad the Knight Bus picked Harry up, but he and I need to step inside the Leaky Cauldron now..."**

**Fudge increased the pressure on Harry's shoulder, and Harry found himself being steered inside the pub. A stooping figure bearing a lantern appeared through the door behind the bar. It was Tom, the wizened, toothless landlord.**

"**You've got him, Minister!" said Tom. "Will you be wanting anything? Beer? Brandy?**

"**Perhaps a pot of tea," said Fudge, who still hadn't let go of Harry.**

**There was a loud scraping and puffing from behind them, and Stan and Ern appeared, carrying Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage and looking around excitedly.**

"'**Ow come you di'n't tell us 'oo you are, eh, Neville?" said Stan, beaming at Harry, while Ernie's owlish face peered interestedly over Stan's shoulder.**

"He seriously called him Neville again!" Ginny said.

"Well Stan Shunpike is about as normal as nargles!" Ron said.

Hermione whacked him on the head. Harry snorted.

"No." Luna said. "Nargles are wise."

"And I am getting them on my brains." James said.

"No you have wrackspurts around your head." Luna said.

"Er…..yeah." James said. "Sorry I got confused."

Lily and Hermione let out huffs of irritation and Remus hastily continued reading.

"**And a****_private_****parlour, please, Tom," said Fudge pointedly.**

**"Yeah you sure as hell need that." Lily II said.**

**Bye," Harry said miserably to Stan and Ern, as Tom beckoned Fudge towards the passage that led from the bar.**

"**Bye, Neville!" called Stan.**

"Again!" Hermione said.

"Has his brains in the gutter that one." Victoire murmured.

**Fudge marched Harry along the narrow passage after Tom's lantern, and then into a small parlour. Tom clicked his fingers, a fire burst into life in the grate, and he bowed himself out of the room.**

**Sit down, Harry," said Fudge, indicating a chair by the fire.**

**Harry sat down, feeling goosebumps rising up his arms despite the glow of the fire. Fudge took off his pinstriped cloak and tossed it aside, then hitched up the trousers of his bottle-green suit and sat down beside Harry.**

"**I am Cornelius Fudge, Harry. The Minister for Magic."**

"Oh I didn't know." Harry said.

**Harry already knew this, of course; he had seen Fudge once before, but as he had been wearing his father's Invisibility Cloak at the time, Fudge wasn't to know that. Tom the innkeeper reappeared, wearing an apron over his nightshirt and bearing a tray of tea and crumpets. He placed the tray on a table between Fudge and Harry, and left the parlour, closing the door behind him.**

"**Well, Harry," said Fudge, pouring the tea, "you've had us all in a right flap, I don't mind telling you. Running away from your aunt and uncle's house like that! I'd started to think... but you're safe, and that's what matters."**

"Hold on a second this doesn't seem like normal Ministry behavior." James said.

"Well it is not like the Minister of Magic himself sees to things like underage magic. I mean he must have loads of stuff to do." Remus said.

"Well with Harry Potter anything is possible!" Ron said.

**Fudge buttered himself a crumpet and pushed the plate towards Harry.**

"**Eat, Harry, you look dead on your feet. Now then... You will be pleased to hear that we have dealt with the unfortunate blowing up of Miss Marjorie Dursley. **

"I am not pleased." Victoire said. The others nodded in agreement.

Harry grinned. "Neither was I but I was more worried at that time about what was going to happen to me."

**Two members of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad were dispatched and her memory has been modified. She has no recollection of the incident at all. So that's that, and no harm done."**

**"I so wish that she had her memory. Then she may have been able to behave better." Rose said.**

**"I doubt it Rose." Harry said.**

**Fudge smiled at Harry over the rim of his teacup, rather like an uncle surveying a favourite nephew.**

"Pity how people change, don't they?" Ron whispered to Harry.

"He didn't change." Harry whispered back. "He was always like this. At that time, I was famous and the Wizarding World was crazy about me so he wanted to shine by showing his concern and care for me. Last year the Wizarding world thought that I was crazy and so he popularized this stuff and went on to defame me. In short he just wants to earn money as Minister and not bother about the public so he just goes with the public opinion and keeps them in the dark."

**"Hmm…"**

** Harry, who couldn't believe his ears, opened his mouth to speak, couldn't think of anything to say, and closed it again.**

"**Ah, you're worrying about the reaction of your aunt and uncle?" said Fudge.**

"As if anyone cares about them." Scorpius said.

** Well, I won't deny that they are extremely angry, Harry, but they are prepared to take you back next summer as long as you stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter holidays."**

"Like he even wants to go there." James said.

**Harry unstuck his throat.**

"**I****_always_****stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter holidays," he said, "and I don't ever want to go back to Privet Drive."**

"**Now, now, I'm sure you'll feel differently once you've calmed down," said Fudge in a worried tone** **"They are your family, after all, and I'm sure you are fond of each other – er –****_very_****deep down."**

"I doubt it." Many of them said.

"There is no love between us. No doubts!" Harry said.

**It didn't occur to Harry to put Fudge right. He was still waiting to hear what was going to happen to him now.**

"**So all that remains," said Fudge, now buttering himself a second crumpet, "is to decide where you're going to spend the last two weeks of your holidays. I suggest you take a room here at the Leaky Cauldron and –"**

"**Hang on," blurted Harry, "what about my punishment?"**

"Are you insane?" James said.

Every face was looking at Harry.

"I mean you are asking for punishment!" James said.

"You-Harry dear-are mental!" Ron said.

"Woah! I can't believe it!" James II said.

"James. He will not be able to be a marauder if he goes on like that." Sirius said.

James clutched his chest. "Nooooooo." He wailed.

"Guys we will train him!" Remus said.

"You will do no such thing." Lily said. "Remus continue reading."

**Fudge blinked.**

"**Punishment?"**

"**I broke the law!" Harry said. "The Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry!"**

"Before anyone can comment. I was a thirteen year old pessimistic hyperventilating boy! What do you expect?" Harry said.

"**Oh, my dear boy, we're not going to punish you for a little thing like that!" cried Fudge** **waving his crumpet impatiently. "It was an accident! We don't send people to Azkaban just for blowing up their aunts!"**

**But this didn't tally at all with Harry's past dealings with the Ministry of Magic.**

"**Last year, I got an official warning just because a house-elf smashed a pudding in my uncle's house!" said Harry, frowning. "The Ministry of Magic said I'd be expelled from Hogwarts if there was any more magic there!"**

**Unless Harry's eyes were deceiving him, Fudge was suddenly looking awkward.**

**Circumstances change, Harry... we have to take into account... in the present climate... surely you don't****_want_****to be expelled?**

"Duh…" Albus said.

**Of course I don't," said Harry.**

"**Well then, what's all the fuss about?" laughed Fudge airily. "Now have a crumpet, Harry, while I go and see if Tom's got a room for you."**

**Fudge strode out of the parlour and Harry stared after him. There was something extremely odd going on. Why had Fudge been waiting for him at the Leaky Cauldron, if not to punish him for what he'd done? And now Harry came to think of it, surely it wasn't usual for the Minister of Magic****_himself_****to get involved in matters of underage magic?**

"I have a guess." Remus said looking at Sirius.

Sirius paled. " I'd never hurt Harry."

"We know Sirius. But Fudge doesn't."

**Fudge came back, accompanied by Tom the innkeeper.**

"**Room eleven's free, Harry," said Fudge. "I think you'll be very comfortable. Just one thing, and I'm sure you'll understand: I don't want you wandering off into Muggle London, all right? Keep to Diagon Alley. And you're to be back here before dark each night. Sure you'll understand. Tom will be keeping an eye on you for me."**

**OK," said Harry slowly, "but why –?"**

"**Don't want to lose you again, do we?" said Fudge with a hearty laugh. "No, no... best we know where you are... I mean..."**

**Fudge cleared his throat loudly and picked up his pinstriped cloak.**

"**Well, I'll be off, plenty to do, you know."**

"**Have you had any luck with Black, yet?" Harry asked.**

The past generation all stiffened.

**Fudge's fingers slipped on the silver fastening of his cloak.**

"**What's that? Oh, you've heard – well, no, not yet, but it's only a matter of time. The Azkaban guards have never yet failed... and they are angrier than I've ever seen them."**

**Fudge shuddered.**

As did everyone in the room.

"**So I'll say goodbye."**

**He held out his hand and Harry, shaking it, had a sudden idea.**

"**Er – Minister?" Can I ask you something?"**

"**Certainly," smiled Fudge.**

"**Well, third years at Hogwarts are allowed to visit Hogsmeade, by my aunt and uncle didn't sign the permission form. D'you think you could?**

**Fudge was looking uncomfortable.**

"**Ah," he said. "No. No, I'm very sorry, Harry, but as I'm not your parent or guardian –"**

"**But you're the Minister for Magic," said Harry eagerly. "If you gave me permission –"**

"**No, I'm sorry, Harry, but rules are rules," said Fudge flatly. "Perhaps you'll be able to visit Hogsmeade next year. In fact, I think it best if you don't... yes... well, I'll be off. Enjoy your stay, Harry."**

"Huh…..you were right Moony. They think I will hurt Harry." Sirius said sadly.

"Cheer up Padfoot. We are changing this, remember?" James said.

**And with a last smile and shake of Harry's hand, Fudge left the room. Tom now moved forward, beaming at Harry.**

"**If you'll follow me, Mr Potter," he said. "I've already taken your things up..."**

**Harry followed Tom up a handsome wooden staircase to a door with a brass number eleven on it, which Tom unlocked and opened for him.**

**Inside was a very comfortable-looking bed, so highly polished oak furniture, a cheerfully crackling fire and, perched on top of the wardrobe –**

"**Hedwig!" Harry gasped.**

Victoire looked dreamy. James II and Scorpius snorted.

"**Very smart owl you've got there," chuckled Tom** **"Arrived about five minutes after you did. If there's anything you need, Mr Potter, don't hesitate to ask."**

**He gave another bow and left.**

**Harry sat on his bed for a long time, absent-mindedly stroking Hedwig. They sky outside the window was changing rapidly from deep, velvety blue to cold, steely grey, and then, slowly, to pink shot with gold. Harry could hardly believe that he'd only left Privet Drive a few hours ago, that he wasn't expelled, and that he was now facing two completely Dursley-free weeks.**

"**It's been a very weird night, Hedwig," he yawned.**

**And without even removing his glasses, he slumped back onto his pillows and fell asleep.**

"That is done." Remus said passing the book to Lily. Lily was about to begin the next chapter when there was a flash of light and a boy with purple hair and green eyes appeared out of the blue.

**Sorry for the delay but I have been very busy these days. I'll try to get the next one up as soon as possible. Thanks to the following people for reviewing. It really made my day: ginny-malfoy22, Eemohlish, bubzchoc, Johanni93 and Zoe.**

**R&R guys!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Leaky Cauldron**

**Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1**

"Who are you?" Harry said reaching for his wand. But before he could do that Lily II shouted "Teddy! You are here!"

Teddy grinned at her. "Hey Lils."

"And what took you so long?" Victoire said glaring at him.

He sighed. "Roxanne. She saw it."

There was a collective gasp from the third generation. "What do you mean she saw the time turner?" James all but yelled frantically."Teddy you know we can't possibly have everyone here."

"I know that since I happen to have showed you the time turner in the first place James and why do you think I was so late. I wasn't on a picnic. I was trying to convince Roxanne to not go blabbering to every Weasley on the planet about it and not to experiment with it though I don't think that she knows how to use it and I left it in Aunt Hermione's study. So we should be fine…..er….for sometime."

"Hello!" Sirius said waving his arms. "Can anyone bother to enlighten us?"

Teddy jumped when he saw them. He hadn't noticed anybody in the hubbub which had been made.

"Er….Sorry… " Scorpius said. "You see well ours is a type of special time turner. It has two parts. One which Victoire is carrying, the one which Lily wants to use to see her sister and the other part is in our own time with your future self, Hermione. If anything happens to any of the parts, there can be a lot of difficulties. For one the balance between the dimensions can get ruined. You can have the death eaters storming in."

"And there are certain limitations." Rose continued. " There are only eight from each generation who can be here. Otherwise again there might be problems. That is why we had kept it a secret because if we told our cousins they'd all want to come storming in. Victoire had helped Mom with it and occasionally Teddy would also drop by. So naturally the two of them had to come-Teddy is an Auror you see-and there was a last minute emergency call so he got a bit late. And then it was decided that the three Potters should definitely come because they are the ones who know the most about Harry's future and they took me to answer any complexities." At this she glared at Teddy who looked away. He was avoiding eye contact with Remus. "And well we got Scorpius to show you that every Malfoy is not some maniac villain."

"And who is Roxanne?"Ron asked weakly.

"Roxanne is George's daughter. And she is the one who goes blabbering every little secret to the whole world. We are afraid that she might tell everybody….in the sense a lot of our cousins….and they'd all want to come which we cannot have though Roxanne usually listens to Teddy…." Albus said.

"And who are you?" Remus asked Teddy gently.

Teddy still did not look him in the eye and said quickly but audibly. "Your…your son." He said.

Remus gasped and his eyes widened. James and Sirius whooped and the others were either grinning or smiling.

Without noticing anything Teddy continued. "I am Teddy Remus Lupin."

Sirius was now thumping Remus on the back but Remus was in his own world. How could he have a child? How could he do this to an innocent boy who probably would not know his destiny? And who was the poor witch who had agreed to this?

"I am not a you know what." Teddy said as if guessing Remus' line of thought.

Remus felt relieved and a small smile appeared on his lips. He hugged Teddy. Nobody noticed that Teddy cringed away from the hug. They were all too busy laughing and glad that Remus had happiness in the future.

"Who is your mother?" Harry asked.

Teddy grinned at him and changed his hair from lavender to a bubble gum pink.

The second generation gasped. "Tonks!" Ginny squealed.

"Tonks…I know a Ted Tonks who married my cousin Andromeda and they have a daughter who is a metamorphmagus. Nymohadora!" Sirius said.

"If you want to live then never call her Nymphadora to the face." Hermione said grinning too.

Sirius turned to Remus with an amused look on his face. "Moony! Nymphie is four!"

"I….w….what?" Remus said. They all laughed and then finally settled down to read after quite sometime.

Teddy took a seat next to Victoire across from Remus and placed his arm round her shoulders.

Lily took the book and began reading. **The Leaky Cauldron**

**It took Harry several days to get used to his strange new freedom. Never before had he been able to get up whenever he wanted or eat whatever he fancied.**

A lot of growls were heard at this reminder of the Dursleys.

**He could even go wherever he liked, as long as it was in Diagon Alley**

"Well there is plenty to see there itself." Victoire said.

"Yeah….you can never get enough of the place." Lily said.

**and as this long cobbled street was packed with the most fascinating wizarding shops in the world, Harry felt no desire to break his word to Fudge and stray back into the Muggle world.**

Lily and Victoire grinned.

"Of course! What are the Muggle shops compared to Diagon Alley?" James said.

"Oh I wouldn't say that James, there is some pretty interesting stuff there too." Scorpius said.

"And you know that?" James said.

"Yeah. I often go there. I don't think Dad really approves it but since he never stopped me, why not? Oh and by the way there are some pretty interesting pranks on sale in the Muggle world too." He said grinning at James II who grinned back like an idiot.

"Yeah." James II said. "Many people know about the wizard jokes but the muggle ones are new to most especially the pure bloods. Although Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes does provide new stuff almost every week."

"Can we please continue reading." Hermione said.

"Yeah sure." James II said.

"I wasn't asking."

"Then you shouldn't have…"

"Oh stop it." Lily said and she continued reading.

**Harry ate breakfast each morning in the Leaky Cauldron, where he liked watching the other guests: funny little witches from the country, up for a day's shopping, venerable-looking wizards arguing over the latest article in_Transfiguration Today_;**

"I love Transfiguration Today." James said suddenly

"What?" Lily gave him a bemused look.

"Hey I do read." James said.

"He does Lils. He is a crazed transfiguration fan."Sirius said. Then lowering his voice to a whisper even though everyone could hear him he said. "I think he may even be McGonagall's long lost relative."

Everyone laughed as Sirius received a smack from James on the head.

**wild-looking warlocks, raucous dwarfs and, once, what looked suspiciously like a hag, who ordered a plate of raw liver from behind a thick woollen balaclava.**

""Must be a hag then." Lily said.

"At least Harry had the sense to not stare unlike some people I know." Lily II said glaring at her brother.

"Well here there's only one!" James II began. "There was a whole heard all giggling I couldn't help but stare!"

"And ruin our trip to Diagon Alley because we had to run back." Rose said rolling her eyes.

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"Well the hags were not…..er….very pleased with James here and….." Albus began only to be interrupted by Lily II

"Oh please Al. Not pleased is too much of an understatement. They were practically hissing and spitting and making all sorts of hand gestures at us. Did I mention that James actually told Louis in a not too soft voice that they are nasty hags? No? Well now you know."

"I am sorry I asked." Ginny said thinking that though James was her son he had got the brains of another Weasley a.k.a Ronald.

"The Leaky Cauldron was a mess then and Tom was really mad." Victoire said.

"Well it was all we could do to get out alive. Who cares about a few broken tables, vials and chairs." James II said.

"And a few stupefied hags." Albus added weakly.

"OK I really don't want to know more." Lily said.

"Me too." Ginny said.

**After breakfast Harry would go out into the back yard, take out his wand, tap the third brick from the left above the dustbin, and stand back as the archway into Diagon Alley opened in the wall.**

**Harry spent the long sunny days exploring the shops and eating under the brightly coloured umbrellas outside cafés, where his fellow diners were showing each other their purchases ("it's a lunascope, old boy – no more messing around with moon charts, see?")**

**"Wow. Wish one was invented in our time, eh Moony?" Sirius said.**

"Yeah." Remus said slowly. Now that he knew that he had a safe future he was much more relaxed.

Teddy looked at him and his relaxed air. He did not know his true fate yet…

**Once Harry had refilled his money bag with gold Galleons, silver Sickles and bronze Knuts from his vault at Gringotts, he needed to exercise a lot of self-control not to spend the whole lot at once. He had to keep reminding himself that he had five years to go at Hogwarts, and how it would feel to ask the Dursleys for money for spellbooks, to stop himself buying a handsome set of solid gold Gobstones (a wizarding game rather like marbles, in which the stones squirted a nasty-smelling liquid in the other player's face when they lost a point).**

"I have never understood the logic behind that game." Lily said.

"Neither have I." Hermione said.

"Oh you two are no fun." James said and narrowly doddged the tickling hex sent by Lily and the leg locking curse sent by Hermione.

"I'd be careful if I were you James." Sirius whispered to him.

**He was sorely tempted, too, by the perfect, moving model of a galaxy in a large glass ball, which would have meant he never had to take another Astronomy lesson.**

**But the thing that tested Harry's resolution most appeared in his favourite shop, Quality Quidditch Supplies, a week after he'd arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. Curious to know what the crowd in the shop was staring at, Harry edged his way inside and squeezed in amongst the excited witches and wizards until he glimpsed a newly erected podium on which was mounted the most magnificent broom he had ever seen in his life.**

**"Just come out... prototype..." a square-jawed wizard was telling his companion.**

**"It's the fastest broom in the world, isn't it, Dad?" squeaked a boy younger than Harry, who was swinging off his father's arm.**

**"Irish International Side's just put in an order for seven of these beauties!" the proprietor of the shop told the crowd. "And they're favourites for the World Cup!"**

**A large witch in front of Harry moved, and he was able to read the sign next to the broom:**

**_THE FIREBOLT_**

**_This state-of-the-art racing broom sports a streamlined, super-fine handle of ash, treated with a diamond-hard polish and hand-numbered with its own registration number. Each individually selected birch twig in the broomtail has been honed to aerodynamic perfection, giving the Firebolt unsurpassable balance and pinpoint precision. The Firebolt has an acceleration of 0-150 miles an hour in ten seconds and incorporates an unbreakable braking charm. Price on request_**

"I wish it was there in our time!" James said looking almost as dreamy as Luna.

"Yeah." Sirius said. "We'd be at the store quicker than you could say broomstick!"

"Well we have the Firebolt 5 in our time." James II said proudly.

Scorpius, Rose, Lily II and Albus all nodded eagerly while Teddy gave them a smug smile. "I got the Firebolt 6. Ha!"

Now it was Harry, Ron and Ginny's turn to go all dreamy.

Lily rolled her eyes and continued with the reading.

**Price on request... Harry didn't like to think how much gold the Firebolt would cost. He had never wanted anything so much in his whole life – but he had never lost a Quidditch match on his Nimbus Two Thousand, and what was the point in emptying his Gringotts vault for the Firebolt, when he had a very good broom already? Harry didn't ask for the price but he returned, almost every day after that, just to look at the Firebolt.**

"Sounds exactly the thing Prongs here would do." Remus said.

"Same for these three nutters." Victoire said gesturing towards the three Potter kids.

**There were, however, things that Harry needed to buy. He went to the Apothecary to replenish his store of potions' ingredients, and as his school robes were now several inches too short in the arm and leg, he visited Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and bought new ones. Most important of all, he had to buy his new school book, which would include those for his two new subjects, Care of Magical Creatures and Divination.**

Lily gasped. "Harry why did you go for Divination?"

"Yeah son. It is a load of dragon dung." James added.

Harry looked down. "Well I really wasn't aware…..er….."

James and Lily understood what he wanted to say. Nobody really was there to give him advice. They felt angry again that they weren't there for their son when he needed them.

**Harry got a surprise as he looked in at the bookshop window. Instead of the usual display of gold-embossed spellbooks the size of paving slabs, these was a large iron cage behind the glass which held about a hundred copies of_The Monster Book of Monsters_. Torn pages were flying everywhere as the books grappled with each other, locked together in furious wrestling matches and snapping aggressively.**

"I am guessing that Professor Kettleburn retires. I doubt the old fellow would set a biting book." Sirius said.

"That explains Hagrid's present alright." Remus said.

**Harry pulled his booklist out of his pocket and consulted it for the first time._The Monster Book of Monsters_was listed as the set book for Care of Magical Creatures. Now Harry understood why Hagrid had said it would come in useful. He felt relieved; he had been wondering whether Hagrid wanted help with some terrifying new pet.**

"Yeah that is called a nightmare." Rose said.

"Um….Rose the_ worst_ nightmare." Ron said.

**As Harry entered Flourish and Blotts, the manager came hurrying towards him.**

**"Hogwarts?" he said abruptly. "Come to get your new books?"**

**"Yes," said Harry. "I need –"**

**"Get out of the way," said the manager impatiently, brushing Harry aside. He drew on a pair of very thick gloves, picked up a large, knobbly walking stick, and proceeded towards the door of the Monster books' cage.**

**"Hang on," said Harry quickly, "I've already got one of those."**

**Have you?" A look of enormous relief spread over the manager's face. "Thank heavens for that, I've been bitten five times already this morning –"**

"Oh poor guy. Dealing with one of those is one thing but with hundreds…..well I sure don't want to be in his position." Lily II said.

**A loud ripping noise rent the air; two of the Monster books had seized a third and were pulling it apart.**

**Stop it! Stop it!" cried the manager, poking the walking stick through the bars and knocking the books apart. "I'm never stocking them again, never! It's been bedlam! I thought we'd seen the worst when we bought two hundred copies of–_The Invisible Book of Invisibility_– cost a fortune, and we never found them...**

"Er…well that is interesting." Ginny said.

"Hey Prongs we need to get one of those somehow."

"We sure do Paddy."

**Well, is there anything else I can help you with?"**

**"Yes," said Harry, looking down at his booklist. "I need_Unfogging the Future_, by Cassandra Vablatsky."**

**"Ah, starting Divination, are you?" said the manager, stripping off his gloves and leading Harry into the back of the shop, where there was a corner devoted to fortune-telling. A small table was stacked with volumes such as_Predicting the Unpredictable: Insulate Yourself against Shocks_and_Broken Balls: When Futures Turn Foul_.**

**"Here you are," said the manager, who had climbed a set of steps to take down a thick, black-bound book. "_Unfogging the Future_. Very good guide to all your basic fortune methods – palmistry, crystal balls, bird entrails..."**

**But Harry wasn't listening. His eyes had fallen on another book, which was among a display on a small table:_Death Omens: What to Do You Know the Worst is Coming_.**

"Harry!" Hermione moaned.

"That is the signal for you to get out of there." Albus said.

**"Oh, I wouldn't read that if I were you," said the assistant lightly, looking to see what Harry was staring at. "You'll start seeing death omens everywhere, it's enough to frighten anyone to death."**

"Exactly." Ginny said thinking of her Uncle Billius.

**But Harry continued to stare at the front cover of the book; it showed a black dog large as a bear, with gleaming eyes. It looked oddly familiar... The assistant pressed_Unfogging the Future_into Harry's hands.**

**"Anything else?" he said.**

**"Yes," said Harry, tearing his eyes away from the dog's and dazedly consulting his booklist. "Er – I need_Intermediate Transfiguration_and_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Three_."**

**Harry emerged from Flourish and Blotts ten minutes later with his new books under his arms, and made his way back to the Leaky Cauldron, hardly noticing where he was going and bumping into several people.**

**He tramped up the stairs to his room, went inside, and tipped his books onto his bed. Somebody had been in to tidy; the windows were open and the sun was pouring inside. Harry could hear the buses rolling by in the unseen Muggle street behind him, and the sound of the invisible crowd below in Diagon Alley. He caught sight of himself in the mirror over the basin.**

**"It can't have been a death omen," he told his reflection defiantly. "I was panicking when I saw that thing in Magnolia Crescent. It was probably just a stray dog..."**

Sirius began to look uncomfortable again.

**He raised his hand automatically and tried to make his hair lie flat "You're fighting a losing battle there, dear," said his mirror in a wheezy voice.**

**James laughed. "Yeah!"**

**As the days slipped by, Harry started looking wherever he went for a sign of Ron or Hermione. Plenty of Hogwarts students were arriving in Diagon Alley now, with the start of term so near. Harry met Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas, his fellow Gryffindors, in Quality Quidditch Supplies,**

"Everyone will want to see the Fire bolt I guess." Teddy said.

**where they, too, were ogling the Firebolt;**

"See!"

"Nobody disagreed Teddy." Victoire said rolling her eyes at her boyfriend.

**he also ran into the real Neville Longbottom**

"The "_real"_ Neville Longbottom." Ron snorted.

**, a round-faced, forgetful boy, outside Flourish and Blotts.**

The third generation could not somehow imagine their Herbology Professor in that manner.

**Harry didn't stop to chat; Neville appeared to have mislaid his booklist, and was being told off by his very formidable-looking grandmother.**

"Why is he with her? What happened to Frank and whoever his wife is?" Lily said.

"The fourth book should tell." Harry spoke for the first time in a long while.

"So who did Frank marry?" James said.

"Guess?" Victoire said.

"I think Alice." James said.

"You're right. He married Alice Prewett."

**Harry hoped she never found out that he'd pretended to be Neville while on the run from the Ministry of Magic.**

"He'd think the Nargles got you." Luna said.

**Harry woke on the last day of the holidays, thinking that he would at least meet Ron and Hermione tomorrow, on the Hogwarts Express. He got up, dressed, went for a last look at the Firebolt** – **and was wondering where he'd have lunch, when someone yelled his name and he turned.**

"**Harry! HARRY!"**

**They were there, both of them, sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour; Ron looking incredibly freckly, Hermione very brown, both waving frantically at him.**

"**Finally!" said Ron, grinning at Harry as he sat down. "We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you'd left, and we went to Flourish and Blotts, and Madam Malkin's, and –"**

"**I got all my school stuff last week," Harry explained. "And how come you know I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron?"**

"**Dad," said Ron simply.**

**Mr Weasley, who worked at the Ministry of Magic, would of course have heard the whole story of what had happened to Aunt Marge.**

"**Did you **_**really**_** blow up your aunt, Harry?" said Hermione in a very serious voice.**

"**I didn't mean to," said Harry, while Ron roared with laughter. "I just – lost control."**

"**It's not funny, Ron," said Hermione sharply. "Honestly, I'm amazed Harry wasn't expelled."**

"**So am I," admitted Harry. "Forget expelled, I thought I was going to be arrested." He looked at Ron. "Your dad doesn't know why Fudge let me off, does he?"**

"**Probably 'cause it's you, isn't it?" shrugged Ron, still chuckling. "Famous Harry Potter and all that. I'd hate to see what they Ministry'd do to **_**me**_** if I blew up an aunt.**

"Oh I would so love to see Muriel blown up!' Ginny said. Ron and the future kids laughed.

**Mind you, they'd have to dig me up first, because Mum would've killed me. **

"Yeah Molly Weasley is known for her temper." Sirius said.

"Oh don't worry she relaxes a lot in the future." Lily II said.

"That might be because at this time she is only dealing with Uncles Fred and George but in our time she is dealing with about six to seven pranksters and so much shouting will do her no good so she has relaxed!" James II said.

**Anyway, you can ask Dad yourself this evening. We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight, too! So you can come to King's Cross with us tomorrow! Hermione's there as well!"**

**Hermione nodded, beaming. "Mum and Dad dropped me off this morning with all my Hogwarts things.**

"**Excellent!" said Harry happily. "So, have you got all your new books and stuff?"**

"**Look at this," said Ron, pulling a long thin box out of a bag and opening it.**

"**Brand-new wand. Fourteen inches, willow, containing one unicorn tail-hair.**

"I was happier than you when I saw that wand." Hermione said.

"Yeah. Couldn't have you vomiting slugs all over the place, could we?" Harry said.

"Long story." Ron said answering the questioning looks of the others.

"** And we've got all our books" – he pointed at a large bag under his chair. "What about those Monster books, eh? The assistant nearly cried when we said we wanted two."**

"**What's all that, Hermione?" Harry asked, pointing at not one, but three, bulging bags in the chair next to her.**

"**Well, I'm taking more new subjects than you, aren't I?" said Hermione. "Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, the Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies –"**

"But you possibly can't take that many. There isn't so much space on the time table." Sirius said.

"Yeah and I suppose that would put you under too much stress." Lily said.

"Ohmygod! I never thought I would see the day when Lily Evans spoke of stress due to study."

"Can you ever talk sense Potter?"

"Nope!"

"Coming back to the point at hand." Remus said sensing a big argument coming. "How did you do it Hermione?"

Hermione grinned. "You'll see."

"Oh that answer is getting so annoying!" Sirius said.

"**What are you doing Muggle Studies for?" said Ron, rolling his eyes at Harry. "You're Muggle-born! You mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!"**

"**But it'll be fascinating to study them from the wizarding point of view," said Hermione earnestly.**

"Yeah. I read through some of the books. It is pretty interesting to see them from the wizard's point of view." Lily said.

"**Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?" asked Harry, while Ron sniggered. Hermione ignored them.**

"**I've still got ten Galleons," she said, checking her purse. "It's my birthday in September, and Mum and Dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present."**

"**How about a nice **_**book**_**?" said Ron innocently.**

"**No, I don't think so," said Hermione composedly. "I really want an owl. I mean, Harry's got Hedwig and you've got Errol –"**

"**I haven't," said Ron. "Errol's a family owl. All I've got is Scabbers." He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket. "And I want to get him checked over," he added, placing Scabbers on the table in front of them. "I don't think Egypt agreed with him."**

**Scabbers was looking thinner than usual, and there was a definite droop to his whiskers.**

Harry laughed humorlessly. Everyone other than the four from his time looked at him as if he was insane. Harry shook his head.

"**There's a magical-creature shop just over there," said Harry, who knew Diagon Alley very well by now. "You can see if they've got anything for Scabbers, and Hermione can get her owl."**

**So they paid for their ice-creams and crossed the street to the Magical Menagerie.**

**There wasn't much room inside. Every inch of wall was hidden by cages. It was smelly and very noisy because the occupants of these cages were all squeaking, jabbering, or hissing. The witch behind the counter was already advising a wizard on the care of double-ended newts, so Harry, Ron, and Hermione waited, examining the cages.**

"Oh I so love the place!" Victoire squealed excitedly clutching Teddy's arm a little too tightly causing him to wince.

James II murmured something which sounded like 'Vikki and her mini-zoo'

"Victoire's got an owl and a cat which she took to Hogwarts and now that she has graduated she has three dogs, about seven white mice, two owls, three cats and about a dozen Piggmypuff."

"How the hell do you live?" Ginny asked while the others stared open mouthed unable to find anything to say.

"Oh Teddy and I manage." Victoire said.

Teddy looked as if he was about to protest but then thought better of it and effectively shut his mouth.

**A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly and feasting on dead blowflies. A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window. Poisonous orange snails were oozing** **up the side of their glass tank, and a fat white rabbit kept changing into a silk top hat and back again with a loud popping noise** **Then there were cats of every colour, a noisy cage of ravens, a basket of funny custard-coloured furballs that were humming loudly, and, on the counter, a vast cage of sleek black rats which were playing some sort of skipping game using their long bald tails.**

Victoire looked as dreamy as James had done on the mention of the Fire Bolt.

**The double-ended newt wizard left and Ron approached the counter.**

"**It's my rat," he told the witch. "He's been a bit off-colour ever since I brought him back from Egypt."**

"Bloody rat." Harry muttered.

"I can't still believe he slept in my bed." Ron said.

"**Bang him on the counter," said the witch, pulling a pair of heavy black spectacles out of her pocket.**

**Ron lifted Scabbers out of his inside pocket and placed him next to the cage of his fellow rats, who stopped their skipping tricks and scuffled to the wire for a better look.**

"See how intelligent they are?" Victoire said.

"Er…no offense Vikki but it hardly shows that they are intelligent." James II said.

Victoire pulled out her wand and sent a cannery at him which began pecking him at the ear and with each peck Victoire said. "Don't. Call. Me. That. Again." And with that the bird disappeared leaving the room in hysterics and James II angrily rubbing his ear.

**Like nearly everything Ron owned, Scabbers the rat was second-hand (he had once belonged to Ron's brother Percy) and a bit battered. Next to the glossy rats in the cage, he looked especially woebegone.**

"**Hm," said the witch, picking Scabbers up. "How old is this rat?"**

"**Dunno," said Ron. "Quite old. He used to belong to my brother."**

"**What powers does he have?" said the witch, examining Scabbers closely.**

"Oh when can we get over with reading about the freaking traitor?" Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione who nodded in agreement.

"**Er –" said Ron. The truth was that Scabbers had never shown the faintest trace of interesting powers. The witch's eyes moved from Scabbers's tattered left ear**

The Marauders tensed suddenly.

**to his front paw, which had a toe missing** **and tutted loudly.**

And then relaxed.

"**He's been through the mill, this one," she said.**

"**He was like that when Percy gave him to me," said Ron defensively.**

"**An ordinary, common or garden rat like this can't be expected to live longer than three years or so," said the witch **

"I wish." Hermione whispered.

**"Now, if you were looking for something a bit more hard-wearing, you might like one of these..."**

"And I wish that I had just thrown him away and somehow managed to use all of the money I had to buy a new one. Or I guess, I would be better off without one." Ron said.

"No Ron." Harry said. "We would never have known that Sirius was innocent then."

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

**She indicated the black rats, who promptly started skipping again. Ron muttered, "Show-offs."**

"**Well, if you don't want a replacement, you can try this Rat Tonic," said the witch, reaching under the counter and bringing out a small red bottle.**

"**OK," said Ron. "How much – OUCH!"**

**Ron buckled as something huge and orange came soaring from the top of the highest cage, landed on his head, and then propelled itself, spitting madly, at Scabbers.**

"**NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!" cried the witch, but Scabbers shot from between her hands like a bar of soap, landed splay-legged on the floor, and then scarpered for the door.**

"Oh so that is how a life long enemity began." Rose said.

"Is he still there in the future?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"He died three years back." Rose said. "But he was a favorite among me, Victoire and my brother Hugo as long as he was alive. Only Dad hated him but I think he was quite sad when Crookshanks passed away."

"One sec. We have a son too?" Ron said.

"Yup! Hugo Weasley." Lily II said. "He also happens to be my best friend."

"I hope I don't have any more kids besides the three of you here." Ginny said.

"No the three of us are more than enough for you two." James II said.

"Oh thank God. I am glad I don't follow in Mum's footsteps." Ginny said.

"Me too." Harry added.

"**Scabbers!" Ron shouted, haring out of the shop after him. Harry followed.**

**It took them nearly ten minutes to find Scabbers, who had taken refuge under a wastepaper bin outside Quality Quidditch Supplies. Ron stuffed the trembling rat back into his pocket and straightened up, massaging his head.**

"**What **_**was**_** that?"**

"**It was either a very big cat or quite a small tiger," said Harry.**

"**Where's Hermione?**

"**Probably getting her owl."**

**They made their way back up the crowded street to the Magical Menagerie. As they reached it, Hermione came out, but she wasn't carrying an owl. Her arms were clamped tightly around the enormous ginger cat.**

"**You **_**bought**_** that monster?" said Ron, his mouth hanging open.**

"**He's **_**gorgeous**_**, isn't he?" said Hermione, glowing.**

**That was a matter of opinion, thought Harry. The cat's ginger fur was thick and fluffy, but it was definitely a bit bow-legged and its face looked grumpy and oddly squashed, as though it had run headlong into a wall.**

**Now Scabbers was out of sight, however, the cat was purring contentedly in Hermione's arms.**

"Whoa! Trust you to buy a mini-tiger for a cat." Sirius said.

"You aren't like that in the future Sirius. You two absolutely adore each other." Hermione said.

"Haha. Padfoot's got a mini-tiger for a boy friend." James said.

"I am straight James." Sirius said.

"Don't call him a mini-tiger" Victoire snapped with tears in her eyes thinking of Crookshanks.

"Besides he does a huge favor to Sirius later in the book." Harry said.

"**Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me!" said Ron.**

"**He didn't mean to, did you, Crookshanks?" said Hermione.**

"**And what about Scabbers?" said Ron, pointing at the lump in his chest pocket. "He needs rest and relaxation! How's he going to get it with that thing around?"**

"**That reminds me, you forgot your Rat Tonic," said Hermione, slapping the small red bottle into Ron's hand. "And stop **_**worrying**_**, Crookshanks will be sleeping in my dormitory and Scabbers in yours. What's the problem? Poor Crookshanks, that witch said he'd been in there for ages: no one wanted him."**

"**I wonder why," said Ron sarcastically, as they set off towards the Leaky Cauldron.**

**They found Mr Weasley sitting in the bar, reading the **_**Daily Prophet**_**.**

"**Harry!" he said, smiling as he looked up. "How are you?"**

"**Fine, thanks," said Harry as he, Ron and Hermione joined Mr Weasley with all their shopping.**

**Mr Weasley put down his paper, and Harry saw the now familiar picture of Sirius Black staring up at him.**

Sirius paled again.

"**They still haven't caught him, then?" he asked.**

Thank Merlin." James said.

"**No," said Mr Weasley, looking extremely grave. "They've pulled us all off our regular jobs at the Ministry to try and find him, but no luck so far."**

"**Would we get a reward if we caught him?" asked Ron. "It would be good to get some more money –"**

"**Don't be ridiculous, Ron," said Mr Weasley, who on closer inspection looked very strained. "Black's not going to be caught by a thirteen-year-old wizard.**

Harry, Ron and Hermione briefly glanced at each other.

**It's the Azkaban guards who'll get him back, you mark my words."**

Sirius gasped.

**At that moment Mrs Weasley entered the bar, laden with shopping and followed by the twins, Fred and George, who were about to start their fifth year at Hogwarts, the newly elected Head Boy, Percy, and the Weasleys' youngest child and only girl, Ginny.**

**Ginny, who had always been very taken with Harry, seemed even more heartily embarrassed than usual when she saw him** –

There were lots of giggles and snorts at that and Ginny blushed a bright red.

**perhaps because he had saved her life during their last term at Hogwarts. She went very red and muttered 'hello' without looking at him.**

The present Ginny was a shade redder.

**Percy, however, held out his hand solemnly as though he and Harry had never met and said, "Harry. How nice to see you."**

"That is how he makes his greetings?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah." Ron said darkly thinking of what pain Percy was causing to their family.

"**Hello, Percy," said Harry, trying not to laugh.**

"**I hope you're well?" said Percy pompously, shaking hands. It was rather like being introduced to the mayor.**

"Ugh….He is so…" Ginny muttered something ingenious and by the looks of it, it couldn't have been a good word.

"**Very well, thanks –"**

"**Harry!" said Fred, elbowing Percy out of the way and bowing deeply. "Simply **_**splendid**_** to see you, old boy –"**

"**Marvellous," said George, pushing Fred aside and seizing Harry's hand in turn. "Absolutely spiffing."**

"So these are the pranksters?" James asked.

The second generation nodded smiling.

The third generation listened attentively. They had heard of their Uncle Fred in stories told by Uncle George but now they were going to hear exactly how he had been.

**Percy scowled.**

"**That's enough, now," said Mrs Weasley.**

"**Mum!" said Fred, as though he'd only just spotted her, and seized her hand, too. "How really corking to see you –"**

"I already love them!" Sirius said.

:Yup!" James and Remus added.

Lily just rolled her eyes.

"That is Fred and George for you. They can make you laugh at even a funeral." Ron said.

"**I said, that's enough," said Mrs Weasley, depositing her shopping in an empty chair. "Hello, Harry, dear. I suppose you've heard our exciting news?" She pointed at the brand-new badge on Percy's chest. "Second Head Boy in the family!" she said, swelling with pride.**

.

"**And last," Fred muttered under his breath.**

"**I don't doubt that," said Mrs Weasley, frowning suddenly. "I notice they haven't made you two prefects."**

"Well both of them can't be prefects anyways." Lily said.

"**What do we want to be prefects for?" said George, looking revolted at the very idea. "It'd take all the fun out of life."**

**Ginny giggled.**

"**You want to set a better example to your sister!" snapped Mrs Weasley.**

"**Ginny's got other brothers to set her an example, Mother," said Percy loftily. "I'm going up to change for dinner..."**

"The twins are much better examples to me than Percy ever could be." Ginny said irritably.

"I am guessing that things aren't too good between you two." Lily said.

"It is not just those two. It is everyone and Percy but I guess I am not allowed to say, am I?" Ron said looking at his future daughter.

Rose shook her head. "No. You will know in the fifth book."

**He disappeared and George heaved a sigh.**

"**We tried to shut him in a pyramid," he told Harry. "But Mum spotted us."**

"Awesome!" James said.

"I wish they had succeeded." Ron muttered such that only Harry and Hermione heard him.

**Dinner that night was a very enjoyable affair. Tom the innkeeper put three tables in the parlour and the seven Weasleys, Harry and Hermione ate their way through five delicious courses.**

"When can we eat?" Sirius said.

"I think after two more chapters?" Teddy asked.

Everybody nodded their assent.

"**How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" asked Fred, as they tucked into a sumptuous chocolate pudding.**

"**The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," said Mr Weasley.**

**Everyone looked up at him.**

"**Why?" said Percy curiously.**

"**It's because of you, Perce," said George seriously. "And there'll be little flags on the bonnets, with HB on them –"**

"Oh! They are awesome." Sirius said wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

"– **for Humungous Bighead," said Fred.**

It took awhile after that for everyone to calm down.

**Everyone except Percy and Mrs Weasley snorted into their pudding.**

"**Why are the Ministry providing cars, Father?" Percy asked again, in a dignified voice.**

"**Well, as we haven't got one anymore," said Mr Weasley, "and as I work there, they're doing me a favour..."**

**His voice was casual, but Harry couldn't help noticing that Mr Weasley's ears had gone red, just like Ron's did when he was under pressure.**

"**Good job too," said Mrs Weasley briskly. "Do you realise how much luggage you've all got between you? A nice sight you'd look on the Muggle Underground... You are all packed, aren't you?"**

"Yeah we always draw so much attention because of our number." Ginny said.

"Well the attention you draw would be nothing compared to what we drew when the entire family arrived at Kings Cross at the same time and all us cousins carrying cats or owls. It was damn difficult to get through the barrier." Albus said.

"**Ron hasn't put his new things in his trunk yet," said Percy in a long-suffering voice. "He's dumped them on my bed."**

"Is he seriously seventeen?" Remus said. "I mean who tattle tales on their sibling once they are like twelve or thirteen."

"Petunia." Lily said. "And by the looks of it this Percy seems a lot like her."

""**You'd better go and pack properly, Ron, because we won't have much time in the morning," Mrs Weasley called down the table. Ron scowled at Percy.**

**After dinner everyone felt very full and sleepy. One by one they made their way upstairs to their rooms to check their things for the next day. Ron and Percy were next door to Harry. He had just closed and locked his own trunk when he heard angry voices through the wall, and went to see what was going on.**

**The door of number twelve **

Sirius flinched slightly but it was not noticed by anyone.

**was ajar and Percy was shouting.**

"**It was **_**here**_**, on the bedside table, I took it off for polishing –"**

"**I haven't touched it, all right?" Ron roared back.**

!"

"**What's up?" said Harry.**

"**My Head Boy badge has gone," said Percy, rounding on Harry.**

"He_ polishes_ his badge?" Sirius said.

"I had heard that Uncle Percy was real bad when it came to such stuff but _this_ bad." James II shuddered

"**So's Scabbers' Rat Tonic," said Ron, throwing things out of his trunk to look. "I think I might've left it in the bar –"**

"**You're not going anywhere until you've found my badge!" yelled Percy.**

.

"**I'll get Scabbers' stuff, I'm packed," Harry said to Ron, and he went downstairs.**

**Harry was halfway along the passage to the bar, which was now very dark, when he heard another pair of angry voices coming from the parlour. A second later, he recognised them as Mr and Mrs Weasley's. He hesitated, not wanting them to know he'd heard them rowing, when the sound of his own name made him stop, then move closer to the parlour door.**

"Harry!" Lily scolded.

"I couldn't help it. I just heard it accidently." Harry defended.

"**...makes no sense not to tell him," Mr Weasley was saying heatedly. "Harry's got a right to know. I've tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry like a child. He's thirteen years old and –"**

"**Arthur, the truth would terrify him!" said Mrs Weasley shrilly.**

"Well after all I have heard about Harry, I doubt anything that the Ministry wants to hide will terrify him." James said.

"**Do you really want to send Harry back to school with that hanging over him? For heaven's sake, he's **_**happy**_** not knowing!"**

"**I don't want to make him miserable, I want to put him on his guard!" retorted Mr Weasley. **

"Well, better know the truth and be miserable rather than have false hopes of safety and being happy only to feel worse than before." Luna said.

Everyone looked at her in surprise and she just shrugged.

**"You know what Harry and Ron are like, wandering off by themselves – they've ended up in the Forbidden Forest twice! But Harry mustn't do that this year! When I think what could have happened to him that night he ran away from home! If the Knight Bus hadn't picked him up, I'm prepared to bet he would have been dead before the Ministry found him."**

"He wouldn't." Sirius muttered.

"Don't feel bad Sirius. Just think about it from their point of view. They think you are a criminal responsible for the deaths of thirteen Muggles." James II said.

"And besides the future Sirius was glad that at least we knew the truth." Hermione said.

Sirius gave them a slow smile.

"**But he's **_**not**_** dead, he's fine, so what's the point –"**

"**Molly, they say Sirius Black's mad**

"Well they got one thing right there." James said.

Sirius snorted at that.

**and maybe he is, but he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban,**

"Somebody just called Sirius Black clever! I never thought I'd live to see this day!" Remus said.

That really helped lighten the mood and even made Sirius ignore the Azkaban reference.

**and that's supposed to be impossible. It's been three weeks, and no one's seen hide nor hair of him, and I don't care what Fudge keeps telling the **_**Daily Prophet**_**, we're no nearer catching Black than inventing self-spelling wands. The only thing we know for sure is what Black's after –"**

"**But Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts."**

"**We thought Azkaban was perfectly safe. If Black can break out of Azkaban, he can break into Hogwarts."**

"**But no one's really sure that's Black's after Harry –"**

Sirius had shut his eyes and was clenching his fists very hard. James was rubbing his shoulder. Sirius was finding it hard to believe that the entire world thought that he would try to harm the son of his best friend-scratch that-his almost brother. He wouldn't as much as let anybody lay a hand on him. It was making him more determined to change the future.

**There was a thud on wood, and Harry was sure Mr Weasley had banged his fist on the table.**

"Uh oh. Dad rarely loses his temper but when he does, it is never a good sign." Ron said.

"**Molly, how many times do I have to tell you? They didn't report it in the press because Fudge wanted it kept quiet, but Fudge went to Azkaban the night Black escaped. The guards told Fudge that Black's been talking in his sleep for a while now. Always the same words: 'He's at Hogwarts... he's at Hogwarts.' Black is deranged, Molly, and he wants Harry dead.**

"Wh..what? But why would I do that? Am I really….."

"Sirius didn't you hear us? You are innocent. Why else would James be named after you?" Rose said.

"Then….." Sirius said.

"Maybe you wanted to just meet Harry. Tell him that you are innocent." Lily suggested. "I mean you would surely want to meet him, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah. I guess." Sirius said.

**If you ask me, he thinks murdering Harry will bring You-Know-Who back to power. Black lost everything the night Harry stopped You-Know-Who, and he's had twelve years alone in Azkaban to brood on that..."**

That was it. James and Sirius had again blown off every item of glass in the room.

There was absolute silence for five whole minutes.

Then Rose softly muttered _reparos_ and Lily slowly began to read again.

**There was a silence. Harry leaned still closer to the door, desperate to hear more.**

"**Well, Arthur, you must do what you think is right. But you're forgetting Albus Dumbledore. I don't think anything could hurt Harry at Hogwarts while Dumbledore's Headmaster.**

**I suppose he knows about all this?"**

"**Of course he knows. We had to ask him if he minds the Azkaban guards stationing themselves around the entrances to the school grounds.**

"WHAT? Dementors at Hogwarts?" Lily yelled.

"I am telling you, it was a horrific year." Harry said.

**He wasn't happy about it, but he agreed."**

"**Not happy? Why shouldn't he be happy, if they're there to catch Black?"**

"Oh I don't know because dementors are the foulest creatures that ever walked on earth?" Scorpius said sarcastically.

"**Dumbledore isn't fond of the Azkaban guards," said Mr Weasley heavily. "Nor am I, if it comes to that... but when you're dealing with a wizard like Black** **you sometimes have to join forces with those you'd rather avoid."**

"**If they save Harry –"**

"– **then I will never say another word against them," said Mr Weasley wearily. "It's late, Molly, we'd better go up..."**

**Harry heard chairs move. As quietly as he could, he hurried down the passage to the bar and out of sight. The parlour door opened, and a few seconds later footsteps told him that Mr and Mrs Weasley were climbing the stairs.**

**The bottle of rat tonic was lying under the table they had sat at earlier. Harry waited until he heard Mr and Mrs Weasley's bedroom door close, then headed back upstairs with the bottle.**

**Fred and George were crouching in the shadows on the landing, heaving with laughter as they listened to Percy dismantling his and Ron's room in the search for his badge.**

"**We've got it," Fred whispered to Harry. "We've been improving it."**

"I doubt that anything they were doing with it could be good." Lily said.

**The badge now read **_**Bighead Boy**_**.**

"Awesome!" The Marauders yelled.

**Harry forced a laugh, went to give Ron the rat tonic, then shut himself in his room and lay down on his bed.**

**So Sirius Black was after him. That explained everything. Fudge had been lenient with him because he was so relieved to find him alive. He'd made Harry promise to stay in Diagon Alley where there were plenty of wizards to keep an eye on him. And he was sending two Ministry cars to take them all to the station tomorrow, so that the Weasleys could look after Harry until he was on the train.**

"I need a little privacy for a little while." Sirius said suddenly and as soon as he said it and adjoining door appeared in the room. Sirius got up and went there.

**Harry lay listening to the muffled shouting next door and wondered why he didn't feel more scared. Sirius Black had murdered thirteen people with one curse; Mr and Mrs Weasley obviously thought Harry would be panic-stricken if he knew the truth.**

**But Harry happened to agree whole-heartedly with Mrs Weasley that the safest place on earth was wherever Albus Dumbledore happened to be** **Didn't people always say that Dumbledore was the only person Lord Voldemort had ever been afraid of? Surely Black, as Voldemort's right-hand man, would be just as frightened of him?**

"I am so sorry, I ever thought about him that way." Harry said.

**And then there were these Azkaban guards everyone kept talking about. They seemed to scare most people** **and if they were stationed all around the school, Black's chances of getting inside seemed very remote.**

"Yes but it is putting the safety of a large number of students at risk." Albus said with a quick glance at the trio.

**No, all in all, the thing that bothered Harry most was that his chances of visiting Hogsmeade now looked like zero. Nobody would want Harry to leave the safety of the castle until Black was caught; in fact, Harry suspected his every move would be carefully watched until the danger had passed.**

**He scowled at the dark ceiling. Did they think he couldn't look after himself? He'd escaped Lord Voldemort three times, he wasn't completely useless...**

**Unbidden, the image of the beast in the shadows of Magnolia Crescent crossed his mind** _** to do when you know the worst is coming...**_

"**I'm **_**not**_** going to be murdered," Harry said out loud.**

"Really not." James said firmly.

"**That's the spirit, dear," said his mirror sleepily.**

"I like this mirror guys." James II said.

"That is the end of the chapter." Lily said.

* * *

**Hey everyone. Sorry for the delay. I'll try to get the next one up as soon as possible once I get the next chapter for my digimon fic up. **

**Thanks a lot to everyone who reviewed: Zoe, Mikado X Goddess, Spottedmask12, bubzchoc, Guest(**Hopefully I will be able to complete it! Fingers crossed.) **Eemohlish, elijahlover** (I'll see if I can bring him in. I'll try my best!) **and Crystal! You guys make my day!**


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